Our Differences Make Us Strong
by supervchan
Summary: Severus wakes up in a room with no light. He is naked and vulnerable. He is ready to give up, but when Draco is captured too his will to survive is revived. Can they be rescued? What if they were rescued by the people they spent their lives hating? Let's see if those wounds can heal, and they can begin to form new bonds.
1. Chapter 1 A Slytherin Rescue

Chapter 1

A Slytherin Rescue

Silence was a gift in these moments. These moments where the unknowing was tortuous. He had no idea where he was. All he knew was that he couldn't move and that it was cold. His body felt like ice, and apart from the shackles holding his arms and legs apart he was wearing nothing. Still, the darkness in the room made him feel relaxed. It could have been worse, they could have left the lights on. But, optimism was a Gryffindor trait, and he certainly wasn't one of them. He was naked, and chained to a wall wondering why he wasn't dead yet. He was the one person now hated by both the dark and the light. Severus had worked hard to be hated by the students to protect his privacy, but this mistake had cost him dearly. He was not hoping for a rescue at this point, but death to relieve him from his suffering. How long had he been there, hours, days? He had long since stopped counting.

There was a small sound in the room that made him jump. For the first time, he felt the frustration of the shackles around his limbs. Someone groaned in the darkness. He wasn't alone. Choosing to remain silent, whoever it was would either reveal themselves or not. Severus was never a social person, and meeting someone for the first time in his state of weakness made him feel sick to his stomach. There was not even a sliver of light to allow his eyes to adjust to the dark. He wasn't sure if the other person in the room was awake or groggy from just waking into consciousness. He heard the metal against the wall. The other person must have been shackled too.

Severus was torn between never wanting to reveal himself to this other person and the curiousity that perhaps this person had people who worried enough to come looking for them. It was a sliver of a chance, but still a chance of escape. Severus had not eaten for days and his body was weakened. He did not have much of a chance if there was a fight, but something inside him made him try, "Hello?"

He regretted it immediately. The curiousity had won over his shame. If there was light in the room, the other person would clearly see his humiliation, "Professor"

Severus panicked again. It was a student. Now, Severus was forced to find the need to survive if only to rescue this other person. He recognized the voice, "Draco, what happened?"

"We were found out. Father and Mother are dead. The manor is burnt, and I don't know what happened next. The Dark Lord found out about you, but I wouldn't say anything. Now, everyone is dead." Draco's voice quivered, but there was no sob. He willed himself not to let tears fall. He couldn't even move to dry his eyes if he wanted to.

"Where were you when you were captured?" Severus asked, trying to avoid the conversation turning towards him. He felt guilty. It was his fault that the Malfoys were dead. He wondered that if Lucius knew about his true allegiance, would he be alive. Would he have switched sides as he had? The Malfoys were unpredictable, but Draco was only a child. It was an adult's duty to protect their children. Severus's role in the war depended on him being a strategist. Right now, despite the pain and humiliation he would feel if they were rescued, he needed to find a way for Draco to survive.

"I was asleep at the Manor. I woke briefly to the Dark Lord murdering my parents and the manor ablaze. The Dark Lord wouldn't kill me though. He said that he needed to use me to make a point to the other traitors. I woke up here." Draco spoke quietly as if he didn't want others to here. It was pointless though. There was nothing they could do to contact anyone, but perhaps Severus thought he could manipulate someone when they entered the chamber again.

"Why am I n..n..naked?" Draco paused, "Are you… you know, too?"

Severus was trying desperately to avoid this conversation. He didn't want Draco to know exactly how vulnerable he was, but this was unavoidable because at some point someone was going to come in and Draco would see him. Severus voice was even quieter than Draco's which was almost a whisper, "Yes, I'm naked too."

"Why?"

"To make sure we aren't hiding anything anywhere. We are wizards, we can transfigure anything to help us. This way we couldn't use anything without doing our bodies serious harm." Severus did everything he could to avoid any really humiliating conversations. It was difficult because aside from sounding confident, there wasn't anything he could really do. To Severus's relief, there was silence for a while.

Suddenly, there was a clicking noise, as if someone was unlocking a door. There was a door to this place, and then there was the light from the door opening. Severus and Draco both turned their heads from the source and closed their eyes to protect them from the sudden light.

"Well, Well, Well, what do you we have here?" Draco turned bright red and struggled against the shackles. Severus hated this too. He put on the scariest look on his fast that he could muster. The truth was he was terrified to see her, "My darling nephew and the conniving Professor who taught him to betray his family."

"He's your nephew and your only family. Let him go, Bella. I have nothing to bargain with, but I do know that you can make use of me." In his desperation, Severus decided to be honest.

"I am to take you both into my custody." She turned to two hooded Death Eaters, "Remove them from the wall, but keep them bound." The two hooded figures followed her orders strictly. For the first time Draco and Severus's arms were just loose enough so they could cover themselves. It wasn't for long because they were quickly placed into a body lock charm and hovered through the hall. They could see other Death Eaters snickering at them as they were floating down the hall. Draco tried to look at Severus to see if there was something he could do, but Severus avoided his eyes in embarrassment. In fact, Severus had his eyes closed.

They both saw large doors open towards the outdoors. It was raining. There were so many Death Eaters watching them. Draco did not recognize the castle or the grounds that they were in, but they reached the point just beyond the gate, and Bellatrix grabbed them both by their arms and disapparated. By the time, Severus and Draco opened their eyes again, it was warm. The were brought into a threshold of a house where there was a fire lit. Their shackles were quickly released, and their bodies unbound. The two Slytherins both bent forward and used their arms to cover as much of their bodies as they could. They didn't have to wait long before the two hooded figures took off their cloaks and each gave them to Severus and Draco who were grateful to be somewhat clothed again. They clutched the cloaks to their bodies staring nervously at their rescuers. A young man with red hair and freckles, and another man with black hair and a lightening bolt across his forehead.

"Here, this will work better." The brown-haired witch who had previously been Bellatrix waved her wand, and both Slytherins were suddenly dressed in full robes, "I'm sorry that we had to put you through that, but we could not have taken down so many Death Eaters without a way to leave."

"Thank you," Severus was the first to speak. He tried to step forward, but his body crumbled from being so weak, but strong arms caught him. He looked up and caught a pair of concerned green eyes, "Potter, let me go."

"Stand up first, Professor." Harry helped Severus into a standing position. Severus tried to walk again but failed. Harry slid his arm around Severus's waist to support him and brought Severus's other arm around his neck, "Its okay, you can lean on me."

It wasn't what Harry wanted to say. He wanted to tell Severus that it was okay to trust them, but he knew firsthand that trust was earned. Having been the only ones to rescue them, Harry hoped he earned a little.


	2. Chapter 2 I Feel Safe

Chapter 2

I Feel Safe

Draco was stunned at what he was seeing. He fell to his knees in the foyer of whosever house it was hugging his body. A pair of strong arms wrapped around his body. He jumped because the person who was holding him was Ronald Weasley, who's life he had made a living hell since their first day of school, "It's okay. You can cry. No one's watching, and I won't look."

Draco looked at him as if he was crazy. He tried to push the red head off, but the strong arms held him in place. He wasn't sure if it was the pressure relaxing his nervous system or that for the first time he felt safe enough to grieve, but liquid welled up in his eyes. He buried his face in Ron's chest, hoping that he really couldn't see. His home, his family, he had none of that anymore. For the first time in his life, he didn't know what was going to happen next. He remembered Potter being held by the Weasley girl in a similar way when Dumbledore died. It must have been a Weasley thing.

When Draco's tears finally stopped, Ron stood up and turned his back to allow Draco to collect himself. Draco was grateful to a Weasley for the first time. His father must have been rolling his grave. His father….another wave of grief hit Draco again. Ron never looked at him while he cried. He gave him the privacy to be vulnerable.

Keeping his word to Draco, Ron did not allow anyone to enter the foyer while Draco was in his moment. When Draco was finally silent, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt and a quiet, "Thank you"

Their first meal in that house was probably the most awkward experience that anyone there had ever experienced. No one was relaxed. It was strange to have Severus and Draco at the table. No one was willing to speak first, but just as their meal was about to finish, Severus broke the silence, "Where are we?"

"This is Harry's flat." Hermione answered, "For now, its probably safer for you to be here."

"I though my cousin left you a house." Draco surprised everyone, including himself, when he spoke.

"That place is too big for one person. I prefer something like this, and the war isn't over. It's easier for us to work out of the radar of the Order." Both pair of eyebrows raised at this comment.

"I thought you were in the Order. Dumbledore's favorite students would surely be first in line to join his organization." Draco's snarky comment brought a smile onto Harry's face.

"I'm glad you are feeling more like yourself." Harry said instead of answering his question, causing Draco to go red and fall silent again. Harry chuckled to himself, "We are in the Order, but they are sometimes too focused on the fighting. There more like you who joined Voldemort out of fear rather than belief. We simply want peace for everyone."

"I don't want anyone else to die." Ron spoke with a serious tone. No one could believe that this was Ron. Most people expected him to be an idiot, but he was a strong friend. Draco found that out firsthand. Severus moved to stand, and Harry was by his side in an instant. Severus tried to resist, but Harry insisted on helping him.

"I'm going to the loo, Potter. I would prefer not to have an audience." Severus glared.

"Sir, you can barely stand. I can simply help you reach the bathroom. There are enough counters for you to hold onto there, please" Harry asked. Severus gave up and allowed the young man to offer his support. When they reached the handle to the bathroom, Severus stopped Harry with his hand.

"Do not stand by the door." Severus commanded. Harry simply nodded and walked away after closing the door behind Severus. He paced the hallway until he heard a flush. Then he heard the bath taps turn on. Knowing Severus's reaction to Harry if he went in there to check on him, he called Kreacher instead.

"Bring Severus a towel and a change of clothes. Then leave if he asks you to." Harry walked back into the kitchen where Ron and Draco were washing the dishes. Harry wished he had a picture to send to their younger selves, "What are you guys talking about?"

"We weren't talking." Draco said defensively.

"Well then I will. The first thing we need to do after you've recovered is to retrieve, you're wands. If not, we need to find you some new ones." Harry answered.

"We should tell the order, that we rescued them. The more people we rescue from Voldemort, the easier it will be for you to defeat him." Ron finished washing the last dish and handed it to Draco to dry. They could have washed everything instantly with magic, but the menial task seems to ease the awkwardness.

"I don't know where my wand is. It might be back at the…" Draco hesitated.

"At the manor…" Ron and Harry said together. They both breathed out slowly.

"We can't go storming the manor without a plan of some sort. We will be killed for sure." Hermione interrupted them for the first time since Harry entered the room. He almost forgot that she was there. Suddenly, there was a crash from the hallway.

"Severus" the four of them ran to see what happened. The door to the bathroom was still closed, but Harry quickly unlocked the door. Kreacher was inside trying to help the older man who had obviously fell when he was trying to step out of the tub. Ron spun Hermione around quickly to save the Professor some modesty. Harry grabbed a towel and used a spell to wrap it around the Professor's waist.

"Sir you will have to sit up a little." Ron reached the Professors other side. Both Harry and Ron helped him into a standing position. Draco flipped the lid of the toilet seat down and Severus sat down on it. Severus immediately tried to cover himself but was relieved when he found that he already was. Ron dried the Professor off with a spell and Harry dressed him robes that were clearly meant for sleeping in.

"Ron, can you help the Professor? I can show you two to your rooms. You must be exhausted. We can talk more tomorrow. I can leave a towel and pajamas if you want to bath too, Malfoy." Draco nodded and followed Harry down the hall. Severus followed while leaning onto the red head, "I'm sorry, but I only have the one extra room. You don't mind sharing do you?"

The room was modest with two full sized beds. It looked as if this was intended to be Ron's room, "Where are you going to sleep?"

"We put another bed in Harry's room. We can go to Grimmauld Place tomorrow. There's more room there." Ron said sheepishly.

"What about Granger?" Draco asked hesitantly. He was relieved that he remembered her last name. He was used to calling her something unpleasant.

"She went home already. She lives in a flat with my sister." Ron explained. Looking around and the young men whose company he was in, Severus realized that he was wrong before. They were no longer children. They were young capable adult men, and they had saved his life. In addition, they treated him with pride and dignity. This was not something he was used to. Severus went to bed feeling safe for the first time in a long time.


	3. Chapter 3 I Trust You

Chapter 3

I trust you

Harry stood before the surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix with Severus and Draco standing behind him. It had been a few days since their rescue, and they had basically recovered. No one said a word for a few minutes, but it was Remus who spoke first, cutting off Mad-Eye who was about to say something about being suspicious, "I am sorry you had to go through that."

"Dumbledore is dead, and we need someone else to lead the new Order. I suppose you think it should be you boy." Mad-Eye looked at Harry as if he were looking right into him. He was daring Harry to say he wanted to take over. This wasn't Harry's style. The last thing he wanted was to be put on even more of a pedestal than he already was.

"No, I believe that Severus should act as our strategist. He knows more about the Death Eaters than anyone, and he's proven his loyalty over and over again even in Dumbledore's worst moment." Harry put his hand on Severus's shoulder.

"Now wait a minute," Bill interrupted, "Didn't he kill Dumbledore? How can you stand there with so much confidence when you witnessed Snape murder your mentor."

"I don't have one mentor, and Dumbledore was dying in a very painful way. Severus was simply freeing him from the suffering he would have endured. I am sorry, we didn't have more time with him, but it would have been selfish of us to put him through anymore."

"What about Severus? How do you think it affected him, having to kill the only man who trusted him?" Hermione interrupted. They were defending him. Did Harry really want him take up Dumbledore's role? There was no way. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to.

"There is a task that perhaps only he and Draco could take on. There are more like Draco and Severus who joined the Death Eaters out of fear. Students, especially students, who will be forced to kill and torture in order to keep their families alive. If Dumbledore was here, there was no way he would have allowed them to lose their humanity in that way." Harry pushed.

In the end, he managed to sway most of the Order members to their side, but they were not open to having Severus as their leader. This suited Severus fine. He was not a social person. No one was opposed to Mad-Eye stepping in as their leader either. He had a harsh tongue and suspected everyone, but it was that suspicion that kept everyone safe.

Draco and Severus returned to Harry and Ron's flat that night feeling exhausted from being on display, "We still need to find a way to get you guys wands."

The next morning, Harry and Ron were gone. Hermione was cooking breakfast in the kitchen along with Ron's sister Ginny. Draco asked first, "where did they go?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other as if to take care in how they would answer, "They went to follow a lead." Ginny answered.

"They should return in a day or two." Draco didn't believe them at all. They were leaving something out.

"Where did they go?" Severus asked as if having two people would even the odds of wits in that situation.

"They'll be back. They are following a lead." Hermione reiterated.

"What's the lead?" Severus pressed again. The girls replied honestly that they didn't know. The first day, Severus and Draco were nervous. By the third day, they were getting ready to leave to search for them, but as they reached for the door knob to leave, the door burst open. Ron was supporting a barely conscious Harry into the door. Ron had a large gash on his arm. Draco immediately went to Harry's other side like they supported Severus the other day. Severus converted the couch in the living room into a bed.

Harry moaned and opened his eyes slowly. He tried to sit up, but immediately threw up all the contents of his stomach on the floor. His body began to seize. The convulsions subsided after a minute or two. Draco was pushing a wet washcloth against Ron's gash. Severus was using Harry's wand to run diagnostics and use healing spells, "What happened?"

"Oh right" Ron reached into his pocket and produced two wands. They were Draco's and Severus's original wands.

"You stupid git, do you have any idea how worried we were? You did not need to got through this, for us. You've done enough." Draco scolded.

"Harry found a way, like he always did. He insisted that you two have your wands. They are a part of you aren't they? You should have your own wands." Ron smiled. Draco was still trying to stop the bleeding. The pressure was hurting him a little, "Ouch, you don't have to worry. This happens a lot. We get into scuffles, but we always come out okay."

"This is not okay." Severus spoke for the first time. He had been seething quietly when he found out the reason for their little escapade, "If I had not been here when you returned, Harry would not be alive. Wands are replaceable. This was poor judgment of you. How to you expect to help those innocents if you are dead?"

"Try your wand. Will he heal faster?" Ron asked and Severus nodded. Severus switched to his own wand. His wand rejoiced at being in his hand, and Severus felt stronger than before. Harry was sitting up in a few minutes.

"Where did you find them?" Draco finally asked.

"We went back to where you were being imprisoned. It took us a while to find them, but we plucked a hair from each of you when you were sleeping the first night. We used a spell to tell us where they were. They were in Malfoy Manor as you suspected." Harry would not answer Draco's unspoken question, and Draco didn't want to ask the question that he wanted to ask, "We ran into Blaise, Draco. His parents are being held somewhere, and he's being watched carefully, but he helped us get your wands."

"If Blaise is caught, his parents will die like mine. Did you tell him that?" Draco pleaded.

"There wasn't time to talk. We were being chased, and Harry got caught between two spells." Ron explained, "We need to find a way to get more information."

"You need to let us help. We know them better than you do, and Blaise is my best friend. He…he needs my help." Draco seemed to want to say more, but he closed his mouth quickly. Ron put his hand on Draco's shoulder and winced.

"Sorry, it hurts." Ron grimaced.

"Good, I'm glad that it hurts. Hopefully, it will remind you not to do something stupid again." Severus chided. He pointed his wand at Ron's cut and healed it instantly.

"Thank you, sir." Ron suddenly lit up as he thought of something, "Would it help if you had some of your lab equipment professor?"

"Where would I be able to put lab equipment here?" Severus asked.

"Do you have a place where you keep it now?" Ron asked. Severus nodded, " You have a home where you stay in during holidays, don't you?"

"It's in London, but I don't know how safe it is. They may have found it by now. Bella and Wormtail both have been there." Severus almost apologized. He felt pretty useless except for healing Harry after he had risked his life to retrieve his wand. Severus still though this was pretty stupid. Since they were rescued, Draco and Severus had basically never left the flat. They went to an Order meeting once.

"Don't go in without a plan like Potter did this time. You might actually get yourself killed this time." Draco argued.

"How about we work together, just the four of us." Harry suggested, "You guys have wands now, and Severus is definitely smarter than all of us combined."

Severus noticed that Harry started using his given name even without permission, but Ron was still nervous at talking with him. He didn't mind either way, which surprised himself.

"Couldn't we just buy all this stuff?" Draco asked, " That way we don't need to go risking our necks."

"We could, but Harry's the only one who could afford it, and we need to keep his savings for this flat. Also, everyone knows that Harry is daft at potions. What would he need a potions lab for, it would be too suspicious." Ron explained.

"I don't mind buying equipment Ron. Draco's right, it might be easier. I just don't know what to buy." Harry looked a little sheepish.

"There is no way I will allow you to purchase a new lab. That equipment cost thousands and thousands of galleons." Severus rejected. Harry blushed and looked away.

"You have that kind of money, and you still dress like that? What a waste" Draco muttered.

"I never really had anything growing up. When my parents died, they left me money, but I don't really know what to do with it. Maybe buying a potions lab will be an actual useful purchase." Harry smiled, "Also Ron, since when has it been Harry's money? You've contributed to it as well."

"That's only recently."

"So what's the plan. Where would you put all this stuff once you had it. This flat is way to small." Draco asked.

"I could always get a bigger flat. Its no big deal. I can rent this one out, and buy a bigger place." Harry shrugged.

"You couldn't afford a bigger place and a new lab. Safe that money for emergencies. I think with the four of us, we can get the stuff from Professor Snape's home. " Ron suddenly looked hesitant, " If you don't mind, Professor."

"Its Severus, Ron." Severus looked at him, "You will call me Severus and I will call you Ron. We are no longer student and teacher. We have been equals the moment you risked your life to save mine."

"Thanks Severus."

"Answering your question, I have another home. A home that the Dark Lord knows nothing about, but I would not like that place to become public. I would prefer it if it were only known to myself, but since you have proven your trustworthiness, I believe I could trust you."

"Severus, you don't have to." Harry interrupted, "Only do what you are comfortable with."

"I'm comfortable with you three." Severus admitted for the first. Time.


	4. Chapter 4 I Am Not Alone

_This story seems to have legs of its own. When I had began this, I had no intention of having pairings, but these pairs seemed to have come together on its own. Sometimes, I don't even know where this story is headed. Thank you for your support. I hope you all keep reading. _

Chapter 4

I Am Not Alone

Leaving the flat that Harry had designated as their safe house was always a big ordeal. Severus and Draco did not want to be seen in public for fear of both sides. Many still saw them as Death Eaters and the Death Eaters knew that they were traitors. Still, there was no denying that there was not a lot of room in Harry's flat. It was designed for two people and Severus was used to his privacy. He was not accustomed to sharing a room with an eighteen-year-old blond boy, and there was also the issue of the bathroom. The four of them were sharing one bathroom. He did notice that it was easier for Draco didn't mind sharing space with Ron and Harry. Perhaps it had come from living in a dorm with other boys. Severus was much older than them and felt out of place. During the first week, Severus was a nervous wreck. His body was weak so his new young roommates felt the need to stand outside the bathroom while he bathed and did his business. It was just as humiliating as being chained to a wall or paraded down the hall naked. Yet, he surprised himself when he revealed his manor to them. It was not worth the risk to take them all to Spinner's End. This was the only other solution. He needed a lab, and now he felt responsible for their lives.

Severus wasn't lying when he said that he was comfortable with the three young men. He even grew accustomed to Harry's hovering and mothering. Perhaps it was a mistake to show him those memories from when he was young, but this was the second time that Harry saved his life. Severus had thought that when he began this path that he would be the one to protect the boy not the other way around. It was a shock to everyone when they found out that Lord Voldemort had yet survived again. He seemed to be unkillable, and now the only connection between him and Harry were gone. Still, there was not much power left in the Dark Lord, but the followers who actually believed in his cause were many. Severus, himself, had considered himself seduced to the Dark Lord's charms.

The first thing that Severus did when he entered his manor was make sure that the three other men knew that his master bedroom was off limits. He was primarily a very private person. The fact that Harry and Ron had seen him so vulnerable made him sick, just thinking about it. Even though, he considered them his companions now. He couldn't get over how ashamed he was over the ordeal. Harry had to even come to his defense in front of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry didn't blame him for his greatest sin, an act that he would walk with for the rest of his life. It was humiliating. Severus let himself be captured and humiliated by a weakened man. How weak did that make Severus seem? His thoughts drifted off, but the unlocking of the door interrupted his thoughts.

Harry walked into the bathroom for the first time while he was bathing, "Leave now, Potter."

"Are you okay, Severus? I was.." Harry hesitated, "worried."

"I am in my home. What would you have to be worried about?" Severus recited a spell that made sure that his shower curtain remained locked and opaque.

"You haven't talked once about your capture. I'm sure you must be enduring it alone." Harry spoke quietly.

"I won't talk about it." Severus said firmly, still wishing that he would leave, "This place is private, so please leave."

"I wasn't going to ask you to talk about it, but I don't feel that its safe for you to be alone." Harry tried again. Severus finally understood Harry's worry. He remained unusually close to Severus ever since he had been rescued.

"I won't hurt myself." Severus started speaking more honestly hoping this would work, "I have already lost everything. My home, my job, and my mentor. My privacy is all that remains, please Harry."

Harry left the bathroom immediately. Severus had given Harry a piece of himself. For the first time since Dumbledore, he had revealed his feelings to someone at least a small portion of them. Severus also realized something about himself. He had told them that his master bedroom was off limits, but he never warded the room against them. Harry was definitely a Gryffindor.

In the parlor, Draco and Ron were playing wizards chess. For once, there was someone who could keep up with Ron. In a few short moves, he was forced to concede. He was still gaping at the board when Harry emerged, "Harry, I lost."

"You were easy to beat. How the hell did you manage to beat McGonagall's giant chess set as a _first year_? Draco teased.

"Wow, you really lost." Harry looked at the board equally surprised.

"Did you find him?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded.

"Where was he?" Draco's curiosity piqued.

"He was taking a bath." Harry blushed a little when he said it. Draco and Ron both stared at him.

"You're still in one piece. I always thought I was his favorite." Draco pretended to pout.

"Well I guess, I'm your favorite now." Ron winked.

"Ewww gross," Draco pretended to hurl. The three of them laughed. It was good to laugh again. Draco had forgotten what it felt like. Two years ago, if anyone told him that he would be living and laughing with a Weasley, he would have blasted them to the moon and back. Now, he was so relaxed that he regretted not making the effort before. His thoughts turned to Blaise. They needed to figure out a way to rescue him, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, all of them. They weren't all truly Death Eaters, were they?

As if sensing what he was feeling, Ron squeezed his hand, "Hey we will find a way. Now that we know that Zabini's position, it will be easier to rescue him."

"We have to be extra careful though. Zabini's position might be easy to understand, but Zabini has a family too." Harry reminded, and he almost regretted it when he saw the look on Draco's face, "Oh Draco, I'm sorry."

Draco held up a hand to stop him, "It's okay. I'm just going to get some fresh air."

As Harry had been worried about Severus's safety, Ron couldn't seem to leave Draco alone. Ron ran after Draco, but was terrified when he couldn't find him. Suddenly wishing they were back at Harry's flat, it would have been easier to find him. This manor was huge. Thinking about Draco and where he could have gone, he finally found him in his bedroom. Without even knocking, Ron ran in to find Draco sobbing into his pillow. Draco's face flushed red immediately when he heard the door open. He continued to bury his face into his pillow. Grief and embarrassment washed over his face, "Ron, please leave."

"No, I can't leave you like this." Ron crossed the threshold, and sat on Draco's bed pulling the trembling blond into his arms, "Don't grieve alone. When Fred died, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my family."  
Why were Ron's arms so damn strong. Draco squeezed hard as if trying to suffocate the Gryffindor, but Ron never budged. Ron never looked at Draco's face, understanding how vulnerable he was feeling. This was the second time that Ron was the strength that Draco needed. He even found himself crying out, "Why won't it stop hurting."

"It won't ever stop hurting. Sometimes you can stand it and sometimes its simply to painful. During those times, it's not safe to be alone. I won't let you be alone. You are not alone anymore, Draco."

"Ron, I…." Draco's face flushed red again at what he thought he was about to say. Instead, he spoke the same words as last time, "Thank you"


	5. Chapter 5 I'm Leaving You Behind

Chapter 5

Draco didn't know how long he slept for, but for some reason his blanket seemed heavier than usual. There was something tight around his waist. The sun was bright, and Draco didn't want to open his eyes. Then something moaned. _Moaned? _Oh crap, Draco sat up suddenly pushing a red headed Weasley off his body. His face blushed red again. Ron freaked out and grabbed a pillow as if to covering himself. They both heaved a huge sigh of relief when they finally realized they were still completely dressed. Draco still couldn't meet Ron's eyes, "Why are blushing? We both have clothes on thankfully."

"I'm blu…" Draco buried his face into a pillow, "Why are you blushing?"

Ron turned away too, "I'm blushing because you are."

"Why am I always crying around you. Don't tell anyone?" Draco barked.

"I already told you before. I won't look and I won't let anyone see you. Your feelings are personal and private. I only want to keep you safe, Draco." Ron brushed a hair out of Draco's eyes. Suddenly, he pulled his hand back as if it burned. Ron used his arm to cover his face, "I'll go down and make breakfast." Ron ran out the door quickly.

At breakfast, Harry was the first to apologize. "Draco, I'm so sorry. I was really insensitive last night."

"It's okay, really. I feel like I'm getting better slowly." Draco and Ron were still avoiding each other's eyes. Harry and Severus were pretending not to notice.

Changing the subject, Harry talked about their next steps, "I think if we had a chance for Draco to talk to Zabini alone, we could find out more information. He probably won't talk to us."

"How do you propose we do that? We can't exactly walk up to someone and ask if we could talk to him." Ron snapped. Then he suddenly realized he snapped for no reason and began scarfing eggs into his mouth quickly.

"Where did you meet him last time?" Draco asked. Harry looked at Ron who met his eyes as if asking permission, "It's okay. Just tell me."

"It was at Malfoy Manor." Ron said quietly.

"How bad was it?" Severus asked so that Draco didn't have to. Ron and Harry looked down, "It could be trap. It's possible that he's being used to lure you there."

"We need a plan." Ron looked serious for the first time, "If someone were to travel with Draco under Harry's cloak, it might buy us enough time to get him out."

"That's not bad, Ron." Harry said, "What if we were disguised as some sort of animals. Severus, how's your transfiguration?"

"I am not like you dunderheads." Severus mumbled under his breath, "I can turn you into anything."

"Malfoy Manor is probably more heavily guarded than anywhere else, right now. They probably are anticipating your return." Ron looked worriedly at Draco.

"Spinner's End is probably less guarded." Harry suggest, "What if we do a dry run there."

"If we were spotted, then they would know we were planning something." Severus rejected the idea, "I believe Ron's idea is the best."

"Harry, you should remain here. If you get caught, our hopes of defeating the dark lord are gone." Severus said softly.

"If you three are going then, so am I. If there's a fight, our chances of survival are higher with more wands." Harry said.

"Then we'll bring the girls." Ron said, agreeing with Severus, "You should stay here mate. We can take Black's mirror. You can come in for the rescue if we get overwhelmed."

"Knowing you, you would die before calling for my help. I can't sit here and do nothing, Ron." Harry protested.

"We won't go today. We should practice first." Ron said almost ignoring Harry's pleas, "I'm sorry, Harry. You know that this is the best way. I promise that we will come back in one piece."

Severus could only look at Harry knowing that he could provide no comfort. His own heart ached for the boy. There was no easy way to be sidelined while the people he cared about risked their lives. Even through his discomfort, Harry still managed to be useful as they planned their course of action. That night, while Severus took his bath, he was not surprised to hear his door unlocked. Harry never fully invaded Severus's privacy, for which Severus was entirely grateful. Harry was silent for a long time which made Severus marginally uncomfortable knowing that he was naked except for a curtain blocking Harry's view, "Are you going to just stand there? Say what you want to say."

"I can't stay behind, Severus. Please don't make me." Harry was grateful for the curtains. He did not want to show Severus his own tears. He tried to make his voice less obvious that he was crying.

"I don't want you to go, Harry. Ron might have his own reasons, but I couldn't concentrate if you were there. When I know you are at risk, its easier for me to make mistakes. You could get hurt, and I could never forgive myself." Severus found it easier and easier to share his feelings with Harry. He never felt that comfortable when it was the four of them, but in this moment the intimacy of the bathroom, he was the most comfortable with Harry, "I hate that you will have to fight the Dark Lord a third time. I need you to be safe until the moment when I can no longer protect you."

"I hate this." Harry touched the curtain.

"Don't open it please." Severus was about to cover himself with his hands.

"I wasn't going to. I…lo.." Harry cleared his throat to cover what he was about to say, "I respect you and care about you too much."

"One day, Harry." The next evening, Severus, Ron, and Draco stood in the foyer of Snape's Manor. Harry shared a three-person hug with Ron and Draco, but when Severus's eyes and his met, that moment was ten times more intimate.

Severus pointed his wand at Ron and turned him into mouse. Harry would have ordinarily laughed, but he was so terrified that he would never see his best friend again. Harry handed Severus his invisibility cloak, and watched his friends walk out the door and through the gate.

"You have no intention of getting the girls do you?" Draco asked after they left.

"No, I was never going to. If there are going to be casualties, the less the better." Severus said quietly. Although Ron couldn't speak in that moment, he silently agreed. The apparated to Malfoy Manor. For the moment, Severus shared the invisibility cloak with Draco as they surveyed the number of Death Eaters guarding the manor. Something felt wrong, there were no Death Eaters guarding the manor. The cloak didn't cover them entirely, but it was dark enough that the it was fine. Severus and Draco hesitated before crossing the threshold from where they could no longer apparate.

The once beautiful Malfoy Manor was heavily scorched. It was almost unrecognizable, and yet the bittersweet memories of his childhood flooded into Draco's mind. A small squeak from Severus's robes reminded him that Ron was here with him. He wasn't alone. He could not afford to appear weak during this mission. They heard someone but didn't get a closer look. They were headed towards the cemetery, where all of the Malfoy family were buried. Draco wondered in sadness if his parents were buried there as well. Severus hid with Ron behind a large tomb stone, it was probably Draco's great grandfather's brother or something. Still it was large enough to provide cover. Draco used Harry's cloak to approach the person they saw sooner. The man turned around and removed his hood.

"You shouldn't be here, Draco." It was Blaise.

"Blaise, I wanted to see you." Draco threw his arms around the dark-skinned boy. Ron flinched silently.

"I didn't want to see you. I searched for you, for days. The only way I found out about you was through Potter and Weasley. Do you have any idea how I felt then? I can't help you. You can go, Draco." Blaise put his hood back on.

"I'm sorry." Suddenly thinking of it, "Why are you here?"

"Perhaps part of me was hoping that you would return here. Now that you have, I'm torn as to whether or not I should let you go, you filthy little traitor." The face that once was his best friend suddenly morphed into another.


	6. Chapter 6 I Feel Helpless

_For the feel of the story, I think that this next scene will be necessary. My hope is that through the actions and feelings, we can experience what the characters are experiencing. That being said, this next scene might be uncomfortable to read. _

Chapter 6

Ron squirmed in Severus's arms, but Severus would not let him move. They could not recognize the person who was talking to Draco, but a familiar cackle was recognizable. Bellatrix was there somewhere. Severus lifted his wand to help Draco, but Bellatrix was smarter this time. She used her want to construct a barrier so that Severus and Ron could no longer see what was going on. Severus immediate returned Ron to his human body and gave him his wand.

"Where did they go?" Ron ran out in panic, but Severus tried to stop him. He ran into the clearing of where they were, but he passed right through Draco as if they had been moved to another plane. All he could do was witness Draco fall to the ground. The man who had been disguised as Blaise revealed himself to be Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange.

"My dear nephew, I hope you will be pleased to know that I've taken the liberty of burying my sweet sister and her husband in this cemetery for you." Bellatrix waved her wand again, and Lucius's tombstone was revealed to him. Tied and gagged to his father's tombstone was Blaise Zabini, bound and naked as Draco had experienced last time. He could see Blaise's face turn red and tried to struggle against the bonds. Having experienced the humiliation before, he couldn't stop the anger that he felt for his friend. It wasn't long before Draco again was in the same position. Ron tried screaming as he watched Draco tortured, but there was nothing he could do. Severus held him tight but tried to watch and close his eyes at the same time.

"Let me go" Draco pleaded as his legs were spread wider, revealing more of himself. Severus was trying to think of every spell in his brain to stop this. He couldn't freeze, he had to do something.

"I have an idea," He finally said to Ron who was in tears, "That's not her wand. If we used her real wand against her, we might be able to overthrow her spell. Go find Granger."

"I can't leave." Ron's knees were trembling, "I can't move." Ron cried again as Draco screamed when Rodolphus hit him with another Cruciatus. Severus pulled out the mirror that Harry gave him, and gave him a brief rundown on what happened. Harry had no time to be pleased at finally being useful. He ran to the gates Snape's manor and disapparated as a fast as he could.

Bellatrix had removed Blaise's gag to allow him to speak because she knew there was nothing he could do, "Don't hurt him anymore."

Draco couldn't even speak as the effects of the Cruciatus curse was still coursing through his body. His uncle used a stinging hex to torture various parts of his body. He was in so much pain. Then the torture stopped, and panic washed over him. He felt his uncle begin to touch him. He started at his head and began to stroke his nose. Draco tried to bite him as a last effort to fight back. Rodolphus grabbed Draco's member hard to remind Draco to behave. Draco screamed at the pain that he now felt. An evil smile crept across his uncle's face. This was his uncle. His uncle who played with him as a child. He brought him gifts at Christmas and birthdays. Draco stayed with his aunt and uncle while parents went travelling. Why was he doing this to him?

"Uncle Rodo, please stop" Draco could not stop his tears from flowing. When Rodolphus touched his entrance, Draco struggled with everything that he could. No, this couldn't be happening. Before his parents death, he had never even shown his body to anyone before. His private body had been the one thing that he vowed to keep to himself, and he was about to have that violated by someone that he used to love and respect. Ron tried waving his arms and kicking at Rodolphus, but his arms just went right through. His face flushed in anger as he watched the Death Eater slip his finger into Draco. Draco was sobbing. Even Blaise was screaming, but this only made Bellatrix laugh harder.

Right as Draco was about to be changed forever, there was a loud shout, "Avada Kadavra"

Hermione was holding out Bellatrix's wand, and Draco's uncle was now dead. Hermione disarmed Bellatrix much quicker than it took her to kill her husband. The barrier was lifted. In his anger, Ron didn't bother with a killing curse. He blew her up. Severus freed Blaise and wrapped his cloak around him. Harry rescued removed the shackles on Draco and threw his own cloak around him. Hermione found Harry's invisibility cloak, and they met Ginny at the entrance disguised, keeping guard. They all disapparated Severus's manor, which at this point he didn't care about where he went. Severus suddenly respected the bushy-haired know-it-all more than ever. As soon as they reached his gate, "Let's go Ginny. Severus, call me if you need anything."

Ron was carrying Draco into the house, and Draco was holding onto him for dear life. Harry was supporting Blaise. Severus remembered a similar scene when Ron and Harry had come to their rescue previously. Blaise Zabini was standing in the foyer of a large dark manor wearing nothing except Severus's dark cloak clutched around him. His hands tightened on the cloak that he was using to cover himself. Harry didn't touch him but led him into a spare bedroom with a bathroom attached. There were clothes on the bed, and Harry left closing the door. He found Severus in the kitchen and couldn't stop himself. He threw his arms around the older man, "I was scared to death that it was you. Don't leave me behind again."

Severus jumped at the touch, but returned the hug, "I can't promise that. I value your life much more than my own."

"Are you uninjured?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"No, it was awful I never felt so helpless." Severus pulled away and buried his face in his hands, "I was there to protect him and I couldn't do anything."

"You did do something. If you didn't remember that Hermione had Bellatrix's wand, Draco would've been…"Harry couldn't bring himself to even say the words, "You saved him."

"But your two best friends were forced to kill two people. Do you have any idea what that does to a person?" Severus would not lift his eyes to show Harry that they were damp.

"It wasn't the first time," Harry said quietly, "We've fought before, if you don't remember."

"I'm going to go shower. Don't follow me this time. If Blaise comes out, he should find someone here." Severus said.

"Alright, I'll make something to eat." Harry smiled.

"Harry…"

"Yes?"

"I…lo.." Severus's face flushed red and he ran away realizing that he couldn't say it either. Harry's face turned red too at what Severus was about to say. He quickly busied himself by preparing enough food to make Molly Weasley look like an amateur. As Harry finished the last dish, Blaise walked into the kitchen. He was a little embarrassed to see Harry.

"Are you hungry?" Harry asked trying to avoid invasive questions to a person that he didn't know very well. Blaise sat down and made himself a plate, "Severus is in the shower, and Draco is…"

"It's okay, I understand." Blaise said not really looking at Harry, "Thank you for rescuing me. It seems to be beneficial to the rest of us when you play the hero."

Harry smiled a little, but asked a polite question, "Are you okay?"

"Other than having my arms feel like they were going to be ripped out of their sockets, and the whole world seeing my bits, I'm just peachy, "Blaise snapped, "Sorry."

"No, it's okay." Harry paused, "I know, you and I aren't really friends, but I am a pretty good listener."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Blaise tried to steer the conversation from him, "I never thought I would see the day where Granger and Weasley would kill someone."

"Well in a war, people have to do what they have to do." Harry was a little sick of the comment. No normal person would kill if they didn't have to, "You should be grateful that she did."

"Believe me, I am very grateful. Gosh, I was pretty useless, wasn't I? Don't tell Draco, because I don't want to him to feel bad, but she killed my parents too." Blaise looked down at his plate but wasn't eating. A tear drop fell onto his plate.

"I'm sorry, but you should talk to Draco. He's been through a lot, but he's still your friend and would want to know." Harry said softly.

Blaise used his arm to dry his eyes, "Sorry."

"It's okay. Its not as if I don't understand to have their parents killed." Harry tried, "Although, I didn't know them. It was hard to know that everyone else knew them except for me."

"I forgot, for a minute, why you were famous. Its must've been awful to be famous because your parents were killed." Blaise was surprised to be having a heart to heart with of all people Harry Potter, but he was right. Harry was a good listener. When Severus returned, they tried to avoid the awkwardness by talking about useless things. Blaise was relaxed and felt safe in this place.


	7. Chapter 7 We Aren't that Different

Chapter 7

Severus had no idea what he was thinking. He wasn't a teenager new to his hormones. He was an adult, and he had been an adult for a while. He had gone from terrifying potions professor to holding whimpering Gryffindors. Now, his once private sanctuary was filled with young barely adult men. Wasn't he in love with Lily, his first friend. He spent his life, trying to protect her son because he was in love with her. When he looked at Harry, did he see a young man who had the weight on his shoulders, or did he see the son of the woman that never loved him. Why on earth did he think it would be okay to treat him other than the child of Lily Evans. He cursed each time that he had to remember that her name was Potter. Yet, Harry was her son. If Lily had chosen him, wouldn't Harry have been his son? Severus sighed. No, Lily would have never chosen him especially after he became a Death Eater, and he hated himself for it.

When he returned to the kitchen after meditating for so long, he pretended as if nothing had happened between him and Harry. He stopped as he was about to walk in, but he saw Blaise with tears running down his face and Harry, good old Harry, trying to comfort him. Severus waited for Blaise to recover before sitting down to the table and helping himself to dinner.

"Hey" Blaise said trying to smile.

"Mmmhmm" Severus responded with his mouth full.

"Eat or talk, not both" Harry snickered. Blaise smiled genuinely this time.

"This seems surreal." Blaise said kind of surprised, "I mean who would have thought that Slytherins and Gryffindors would get along in this way."

"Dumbledore must have gotten to you. He always did have his head in the clouds," Severus spoke this time after swallowing.

"Yeah well, you were pretty gallivant this time, Severus." Blaise teased, "Perhaps you should have been a Gryffindor." Severus suddenly looked like he was going to be sick. He put his fork down and stared at them looking horrified.

"I'm going to take that has a great insult," Harry scowled, "Gallivanting has saved many lives, I'll have you know." In a short time, they were all laughing. It felt good and it felt right.

"I wish we were friends sooner. Perhaps there would have been less casualties." Blaise said with a touch of sadness in his eyes.

"I wonder if the greatest mistake that England made was the division of houses at Hogwarts. Sure we were all sorted based on our personality traits, but it seemed to have emphasized on our differences rather than our strengths."

"I understand what you mean. We aren't all that different. We all have the same body parts, we have families, we love, hurt, grieve. Our differences are what makes us unique, but there's no reason why two people who are different can't be friends." Harry said.

Blaise started applauding, "Lets give a standing ovation for the proud Gryffindor. Lets all hold hands and sing together." Harry smacked him gently on the arm. They all started laughing again.

It was different for Ron and Draco. From the moment the came in through the gate, Ron scooped up Draco in his arms and ran him into the house. He didn't let Draco stand again until they were in Draco's room with the door shut. Ron threw his arms around Draco, "I'm so sorry."

Once again, Draco was crying. Everyone had witnessed his humiliation. Ron had seen him with his legs spread and being violated by his uncle. It wasn't just Ron, they all saw him. Blaise, Harry, Severus, even Granger when she came bursting in. Oh god, his uncle was dead. Granger killed him, and Ron blew up Bellatrix. They would never hurt him again. Draco pinned his legs together as it suddenly hit him that the only thing he was wearing was Harry's robe, "Leave me alone, I want to get dressed."  
"You shouldn't be alone, Draco." Ron wouldn't let go.

"Then turn around, I don't want to be seen like this. Don't look at my face," Draco pleaded. Draco wouldn't look up until Ron had his back turned.

"Don't you want to shower? I'll wait until you get in. I won't open the curtain." Ron said quietly.

"Okay" Draco dropped the cloak and tried to turn the doorknob to the bathroom, but his hands were trembling, "Ron, I can't open the door."

Ron's eyes never left the wall as he carefully moved across the room towards the bathroom door. He even started the bath for Draco. Still staring at the wall, he waited for Draco to get in, but when Draco yelled as he slipped trying to step into the tub, Ron's arms was there to catch him. Draco screamed when he felt hands touch his body, but Ron was careful not to let Draco fall until he was fully submerged in the wall. He never looked at Draco once. His eyes were fixated on the wall which Draco knew was the most difficult thing in the world to do. When the curtain was closed, Ron pretended not to be there to give Draco some time to his thoughts. In fact, his back was turned to the shower curtain.

"It hurts." Draco whimpered as water touched his cuts.

"I'm sorry" Ron was actually grateful that Draco couldn't see him in that moment. Draco's eyes weren't the only ones filled with tears. In fact, his voice was hoarse from screaming. Ron stepped out of the bathroom a little to give Draco some more space, while staying close enough to help if needed and to make sure that Draco wouldn't hurt himself. Ron could hear laughter downstairs from all three men. He was glad that they were okay, but his thoughts were all on the blond that was in the tub a few feet away. Ron sat on the floor with his back towards the bathroom door which was slightly ajar. Ron felt sick when he watched that disgusting man touch Draco. The fear and embarrassment that covered Draco's face when he was exposed, cut threw him sharper than a knife. Draco was a person and deserved more than anything to be treated as one. Ron could hear Draco sobbing again, and he could do nothing about the tears running down his own cheeks. He buried his face in his arms.

Draco was startled at the sound. He thought that he had stopped crying. Then he realized it wasn't him. He never knew how strong Ron was. He freaked out when Ron caught him as he tripped over the tub, but Ron respected him so much that he never looked at his body or at his face even once. He remembered the words Ron said when he was rescued the first time, "_I won't look, and I won't let anyone see you_". His body was still shaking from his ordeal, and he remembered again as the water stung around his entrance that someone had their fingers inside him. They didn't just look at him, they touched him. His uncle had squeezed his private place hard. It was still painful and tender to the touch. Draco couldn't stop himself from crying out, and he could hear Ron's own heart wrenching sobs. He couldn't comfort him either, but if Ron wasn't with him right now, he wasn't sure what he would do. Perhaps Ron was right, he would have possibly hurt himself.

Draco sat in the tub for a long time, and there was silence for a long time. Was he alone? Did Ron leave? It wasn't possible, the water was still warm. Ron must have reheated the water with his wand, "Ron?"

"Do you need anything?" Ron asked. He almost asked him if he was alright, but there was no way that he was. Instead he asked, "What can I do?"

"I'm ready to get out, but I don't know if I can stand right now," Draco blushed, "I don't want you to see me either." He realized that he sounded kind of ridiculous. This was Ron. He would never hurt him, but he remembered feeling that way about his uncle. The pain returned to Draco as he shook violently. Ron opened the curtain with his back turned and his eyes closed. He sat on the edge of the tub for Draco to have him to grab onto.

"I can only promise that I won't hurt you, but it's up to you to believe me." Ron said giving Draco the strength that he needed.

"I'm embarrassed. You've seen me naked twice now." Draco wrapped himself in the dressing robe that Ron had laid out.

"It doesn't count. It will only count when you allow me to see you of your own free will." Ron answered seriously.

"You want me to allow you?" Draco asked with a deeper blush. It was a good thing that Ron had his eyes closed.

"I want you to have a choice because your body belongs to you." Ron said. Even when he was dressed, Ron didn't open his eyes until Draco was under the covers asleep with the lights off. He never left the room. Ron sat with his back against Draco's bed.

Draco woke up three times that night covered in sweat from nightmares. Each time, Ron would hold him like a child until he stopped shaking. The third time, Ron woke up from the nightmare, but he did everything not to let Draco see. A knock came to the door in the morning, it was Harry.

"You look terrible," he whispered trying not to wake up Draco, "go shower, and get some real sleep. I'll watch over him."

Ron nodded.


	8. Chapter 8 I Will Save You

_I know there have been a lot of scenes with shower or bath scenes, but I feel that is usually when people are the most vulnerable. Thanks for your support. I hope you keep reading._

Chapter 8

Ron stood under the shower faucet lost in thought. He had no idea how tired he was. His body ached from sitting in an awkward position all night, but that must have been nothing compared to how Draco felt. He couldn't get the image of him being violated out of his head, and every time he thought about it, he was filled with anger. Anger that he couldn't shake the image, anger at the people who hurt him, so much anger that he felt that he could kill a dozen more people. Perhaps it was the exhaustion. Harry knew him too well. Ron left the shower and dressed. It was early in the morning when Ron finally laid his head on his pillow. Memories of him screaming helplessly as he watched his friend be tortured, and he didn't realize that he had woken up screaming when Severus was shaking him awake. He pulled out his wand ready to blast Severus into a million pieces. Breathing from relief to see who it was, he swung his legs over to the side of his bed.

"Sorry," was all he could manage to say before he threw up all over his bed and the carpet. With a flick of his wand, Severus cleaned it up instantly.

"Drink this," Severus handed him a goblet, "Its dreamless sleep." Ron downed it like he was drinking fire whiskey. Severus thought about this fight. They weren't ready for a real fight. They had barely escaped. If it was a mission, he supposed he could consider it a success. Their goal was to rescue Zabini, which they did. The cost was too high. How would they manage in a real fight with hexes thrown about. Someone might get killed, that's how it was in a war. During the fight of Hogwarts, their losses were great, but there were many of them fighting side by side. There were enough people to cling to when they suffered the losses. So far, their little group had four. He was not counting the Order of the Phoenix. He was counting their little group here in his home. Perhaps Blaise would join them, and sometimes they could count on Granger and Ron's sister. Still their numbers were small, if one of them died, their core would be shaken.

Then he thought of Harry, he needed to defeat the Dark Lord this time for good. There was no room for error this time, and the difference was that Harry knew exactly which side he was on. It would be in everyone's interest if there was someone on the inside, but there was no way for someone to prove their worth without killing someone. It would have been someone in their small group or someone else very close to them. Someone would have to die, and someone would need to betray them in order for that to work. It made him sick to think that Harry would hate him. To die was a much easier choice for him, but if Harry had to hate Ron, he doubted Harry would have to strength to fight. He didn't want anyone to have to go through this.

No one from their side died this time, but their loss was great. Draco was almost broken, but a small voice inside him reminded him that he wasn't. When they recovered, he knew that they would have to try again. Severus was tired. He was too old for this. They were no longer the children who he could instill fear into in potions class. They were strong wizards who had the ability to fight, and after this last fight, he knew that they could kill if they had to. The strategist inside him awoke.

Severus flooed Hermione immediately, when he saw that Ron was now in a peaceful sleep due to sleeping potion, "I have a plan."

Only Blaise saw him leave, but he knew well enough not to ask or say anything. The look in his eyes told Blaise that he was up to something, and in order for it to work, Blaise would have to cooperate. When Severus's companions emerged, he would have to tell them something. Blaise made coffee that morning while trying to come up with a good excuse.

Draco woke up in the morning, and screamed when he saw Harry instead of Ron. Harry jumped up immediately, "Hey are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just surprised." Draco sat up rubbing his temples. He pulled his dressing gown closed, so that Harry couldn't see his chest. _What a girly move, _Draco thought to himself, "Could you turn around. I'd like to get dressed."

"Oh yeah, sorry." Harry's cheeks colored slightly before he turned around.

"Where did Ron go?" Draco asked from behind Harry.

"He went to bed. I told him that I would stay here." Harry replied. He didn't tell Draco that he had to silence the room from Ron's own nightmares. He knew that Severus was taking care of it.

"That's good. He didn't really need to stay here with me tonight." Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder to tell him that he was done changing, "neither do you."

"We're friends, right? It's okay then. Want some breakfast? I think Blaise has coffee." Harry opened the door, and silently lowering the charms on the door.

"Yeah, I'm starved." Draco seemed to find it easier to be next to Harry then Ron in the moment. Ron was getting too close then he would have liked, and Harry's optimism was refreshing.

Walking into the kitchen, Blaise had a full spread waiting for them, "Welcome your royal highnesses."

"Fetch my royal coffee, peasant," Draco played along, and Harry laughed.

"I didn't know you could cook." Harry sat down wolfing down a mouthful of food.

"I think the Gryffindor Lion should be changed into the Gryffindor Pig." Blaise said with a slightly disgusted look at Harry's table manners.

"I will take that comment because this is absolutely delicious. I thought all of you Slytherins were super rich with house elves serving you hand and foot." Harry teased.

"The rest of us had house elves, but the Zabini's had Blaise." Draco snickered, and Blaise stepped on his toe.

"Ouch, such abuse." Draco pretended to cry dramatically. There was laughter in the kitchen again, "where's Severus?"

"Oh he went to gather some medicinal herbs. He said he would be back soon. He borrowed your cloak, if that's alright with you, Harry." Blaise spoke with an even voice to avoid suspicion.

"Yeah sure, he probably needs to restock his supplies. This place looks like it hasn't been lived in for years. Perhaps we can clean it." Both Blaise and Draco looked horrified, "What, we had to clean Grimmauld Place, Sirius first got it."

"You do not have the authority to give us detention, Potter." Blaise protested.

"Its Harry, we all use our first names here because we are all friends. Secondly, we've been living here for a while. Its only polite that we tidy up a little, plus, I don't see any house elves do you?" Harry waved his hand around proving his point.

"Fine, but I am definitely using magic. I'm not scrubbing anything by hand." Blaise countered. Harry just shrugged.

When Ron finally woke up, his head felt groggy from the dreamless sleep. He changed his clothes and went downstairs. He thought must have lost his mind when he saw the sight before him. Draco was dusting and Harry was mopping the floors. Blaise was doing the dishes, and in a few minutes the room sparkled, "I must be dreaming. I thought he gave me dreamless sleep."

"No rest for the weary," Harry said, handing him a plate with food, "Finish eating and start helping us. We are doing the parlor next. The look on Draco and Blaise's face said _save me!_

Severus met Hermione at Harry's smaller flat which had now been vacated for some days, but he need her help, "I have an idea to run by you."

"Okay" She was nervous to be in the same room as her former professor. It was even more awkward since she had seen him naked, and she had even touched him while she was pretending to be Bellatrix. Her blush reminded him of exactly what she was thinking about. Severus cleared his throat to distract her from thinking about it.

"I should start by thanking you for rescuing me and coming to help Draco." Severus almost couldn't meet her eyes, but he wasn't here to discuss past situations, "Your performance as Bellatrix was stunning. I need you to do it again."

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked, but she was afraid she already knew the answer.

"We are going to collect the remnants of Bellatrix and Rodolophus's bodies and bring them to your flat. Using hair or flesh if we have to create enough Polyjuice potion to last us a long time." Severus explained, but it seemed that he didn't need to explain further. He didn't have to tell her, she already knew what he was thinking. She really was the brightest witch of her time. He seriously wondered how Harry and Ron would've survived without her. They probably wouldn't.

"You want me to pose as your wife, so we can fool the Dark Lord and all of the Death Eaters." Hermione said out loud with her mouth wide open.

"Well, you certainly are intelligent." Severus looked at her expression, "If you are worried about your safety, I can assure you that I won't let you die before me, but I can't tell you that it won't be dangerous or that you won't die. I can't promise that, but we need to find a way to give Harry his chance."

"You really care about him don't you?" Hermione asked inquisitively. If him being honest will convince her he would do anything to give them the upper hand right now.

"I loved Lily Potter, and I would do everything I can to protect her son." Severus had been spitting out that line to Dumbledore for as long as he could remember. She seemed to buy it.

"Okay, I agree," She added a little word at the end, "Dear"


	9. Chapter 9 I Worry About You

Chapter 9

Harry looked at the clock, it was late. Severus still had not returned. A little flutter in Harry's stomach told him that something was not right. After their recent events, worry came much quicker than usual. How long did it take to gather herbs? Would he be gone a couple of days? He wished Severus would have said something. The others had long gone to bed, well, Ron was sitting in Draco's room until he fell asleep. He would probably be sitting outside his room all night too. To Harry, Draco looked fine, but he knew more than anyone that it wasn't anyone's forte to show weakness to the people they care about. When Harry woke-up, he found a blanket covering him. His face was on the kitchen table, "Severus?"

"No, it's me." Blaise answered, "He hasn't returned yet. Sometimes it takes longer to find the especially rare herbs."

"He shouldn't have gone alone." Harry tried rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and moved his arms around to have the blood circulating again.

"No, he shouldn't have." Blaise agreed, "He will probably return soon."

Thankfully, Blaise was right, and Severus came walking through the gates with his arms full of greens stuff. He looked like a mess. His hair was greasier than normal, and his clothes were all muddy. Harry tried to pretend like he wasn't worried and disappeared to his room, so it didn't look like he had been waiting all night.

"Thank you for covering for me." Severus said, looking exhausted.

"I kind of owe Potter one after he saved my life. I didn't want to see him worry until there was something to worry about." Blaise poured Severus a cup of coffee, "Is there something to worry about?"

"Not yet, but I will need your help, tonight." Severus revealed, "I can't talk about it now, but just be ready after everyone is asleep."

"It will be hard to sneak past Ron," Blaise lowered his voice to a whisper, and pointed to the upstairs hallway. Ron looked exhausted sitting against Draco's door. He clearly had not slept that night either. He wasn't even sure if he was still awake. Severus called his name, but he didn't respond. Concerned, Blaise put a hand on his shoulder and Ron jumped up with his wand ready.

"What happened?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Relax, mate" Blaise put his hand on Ron's wrist softly, lowering the wand with care.

"Oh, was I asleep?" Ron looked a little embarrassed.

"Sort of," Blaise answered honestly, "why don't I take a turn. Go get some sleep. He won't wake up for a while. Severus left a goblet of dreamless sleep for him last night too."

"That stuff is strong; I don't want him to get addicted to it." Ron worried like a mother hen. Severus chuckled a little.

"If you drank it every day, it would eventually stop working and making sleep even more difficult for your body. However, I am the only one in this house who can brew it, and you may only drink it if I allow it." Severus seemed to be back in his teacher mode.

"Yes, sir" Ron tried teasing, but he yawned instead.

"Do you need a sleeping potion?" Severus asked.

"No, I want to be disturbed if something happened or if he's looking for me." Ron walked in the direction of his room.

"Speaking of sleep, I think I will turn in as well." Severus was careful not to talk about their plans on the second floor where all of their bedrooms were. Severus paused and thought about knocking on Harry's door, but then changed his mind and left.

Draco could hear everything outside his door that morning. He didn't take the dreamless sleep because he was afraid to sleep too deep. That night was better than the night before. He knew that Ron would have insisted on staying with him that night as well, but Draco insisted on being alone when he slept. They reached a compromise where Ron would wait outside his door until he fell asleep. Draco evened his breathing so that he sounded like he was in a deep slumber, but Ron never left Draco's door. He must have had nightmares again because once or twice, he woke up in Ron's arms. Yet, Ron gave him his space as soon as he began to relax.

There were times Draco wondered why Ron was so attentive. If the situation was reversed, Draco would have long been frustrated with the coldness that he received, but Ron seemed to know exactly when Draco needed someone and when he needed space. He knew it was taxing on Ron's body, and he needed to figure out a way to make Ron relax. Perhaps Ron would sleep if there was a couch in his room for him to rest on because as long has had nightmares, Ron would not rest either. His guilt was eating at him, Draco knew.

Draco thought of an idea and stood up to dress. He walked to Ron's room and knocked on the door, but he didn't hear anything. Summoning all of his bravery, Draco opened the door, and he realized that when Ron slept, he used a silencing charm so that no one would hear his agony. Shocked to find his now closest friend writhing in agony from a nightmare, Draco almost stopped breathing. Almost instinctively as Ron had always done for Draco, he wrapped his arms around the redhead.

"Ahhh" Ron sat up suddenly in his bed again with his wand drawn. When he realized that he was pointing his wand at Draco who didn't move, he sighed with relief. It was Ron's turn to shed tears in Draco's arms. This was first time that Draco saw Ron cry ever, "Thank Merlin, you're safe." Ron's voice was muffled from burying his face in Draco's arms.

"I always feel safe when I'm with you." Draco said softly.

"That's not what happened. I was there and you weren't safe. You were hurt, and I couldn't do anything." Ron pulled away. His hands were around his sheets clenched in fists. His eyes were bloodshot, and he turned his head away silently as if to hide more of his emotions.

"There's not a lot I can say to give you comfort, Ron. I know that. I hate having memories of it too. I felt weak and helpless, and all I can see are his eyes. I can remember his touch on my body, and it makes me feel sick to remember it." Draco closed his eyes, "But whenever, I open my eyes again, I don't feel afraid because you make me feel safe when I'm with you. Ron, you are my friend. These days you are my closest friend, the person who sees me when I am the most vulnerable."

"I haven't been able to do much for you. I thought I did when I was able to rescue you the first time, but it was when I saw you that I realized how incompetent I am." Ron still would not look at Draco in the eyes, "I promise you though, I will get better. I will get better at protecting you."

"You are my friend, and the fact that you feel that way means everything to me." This isn't what Draco wanted to talk about. He didn't want the conversation to be about him, "Ron, you have to rest. You are having nightmares because you are over tired. You've barely slept since we've returned, and I'm partly to blame."

"I want to be there for you. I don't want you to suffer alone." Ron smiled at Draco. Draco looked at him. Dark circles covered Ron's eyes, and he had lost weight. Draco was recovering at his expense. This isn't right.

"Ron, lay down. Sleep, now. I'm safe. If I'm here with you, so you know that I am safe." Draco pushed Ron's shoulders down so that he was laying on the bed. Draco pulled up the covers to tuck Ron in. Then Draco surprised himself when he laid down on top of the covers with Ron and put his arms around him. Lightly, Draco began to use his hands to stroke Ron's hair.

"You don't have to do this. I'm supposed to be comforting you. You've suffered so much." Ron tried to sit up, but Draco's strong arms kept him still.

"You haven't been eating or sleeping much. Right now, I'm stronger than you, and you look ten times worse than me right now. Sleep, Ron." Draco's hand never left Ron's hair. Easing into the comforting feeling, Ron began to doze off. The rhythmic movement had Ron snoring in seconds. Draco didn't even notice that his own eyes were nodding off. Neither Ron nor Draco had any nightmares this time.


	10. Chapter 10 I See You As Equals

Chapter 10

It was nearly noon when the house emerged. Blaise had lunch ready for them when they came out. It seemed uncanny, all four of his housemates opened their doors at the same time. Ron and Draco blushed a little at having been caught exiting Ron's room together. Harry wanted to say something, but remembering Draco's ordeal, he decided not to embarrass them. The smell of delicious food wafted through the house. Severus was still stunned that he now shared a house with four younger men who he valued as equals. Their friendship was not founded on fear, but on respect. Saving the life of someone leaves a connection that he was not used to. If Severus was truly honest with himself, he had always sat between two powerful wizards who both used him for their own agendas. Dumbledore was his friend and mentor, but he was never overly concerned with Severus's safety, and the Dark Lord only cared about his own agenda, the lives of others be damned. This was different. Severus even found himself genuinely smiling to himself. Still having been their teacher, he felt an almost paternal responsibility to them, and at the same time he felt the same camaraderie that they felt with each other.

Harry seemed to have similar thoughts to Severus because he was shocked that he was sharing a living space with three people who he had always assumed hated him. Now, they were as close as Ron and Hermione were ever to him. The four men who stood before him had experienced so much together, and Harry felt that they could all feel that serious tug of an unbreakable bond that linked them together. The difference between Slytherins and Gryffindors was slowly starting to fade. They were simply people who had something very important to lose if they didn't protect it. Also, aside from Ron, none of them had living parents. To Harry, this was what a family was supposed to feel like. Harry looked at Severus. The previous night, he had been worried to death that something had happened to him. It was strange because a few years ago, Severus's safety wasn't even in the realm of his thoughts. He spent a long time believing that Severus saw his father in him, and therefore felt an unusual amount of animosity towards him. Harry was sorry that his father had bullied Severus. If Harry were in Severus's position, he would have a hard time trusting anyone, but somehow, he knew that Severus trusted him.

Blaise was just happy to be alive. He was grateful to Harry who had been the first person to make him feel less like an outsider in this house. After hearing that Harry's goal was to rescue Slytherins like himself who didn't actually want to follow the dark lord, he felt an overwhelming respect for the famous boy. Blaise felt so much comfort around his new housemates. He couldn't even believe that he shared his grief with Harry. He seemed to have this way about him where he just sat there and listened. It was easy to talk to Harry, and it was easy to understand why people believed him. After his rescue, he knew exactly why so many people put their lives on the line to help him and protect him. Harry would never hesitate to help anyone. He was nobody to Harry, and Harry would have risked his life anyways for him. Then there was Draco, his oldest friend. When Blaise had first been rescued, he had been ashamed that his body was revealed in such a way, but his best friend had been tortured. Draco had been tortured because they were trying to rescue him, and it was then that he realized how much their friendship meant to them. Draco risked his life to save him. Blaise was more than a little surprised when he found out that the person who could reach Draco the most was a Weasley. Malfoys were taught to detest Weasleys from a young age, and Draco's emotional wounds were being healed by one.

Draco wasn't sure who was the first to blush when they woke up side by side again. There was no shock this time because Draco could remember what had happened the previous night. He never felt more refreshed. He stared at his friend's sleeping face. Perhaps this was what having a brother felt like. Brother… that wasn't right. He didn't really think of Ron as a brother, rather, Ron was his confidant and protector. He became someone who was important to Draco. In fact, he felt a little guilty. His father was probably looking down on him with a little disgust. Draco was afraid to admit it, but in some ways Ron's presence was almost a need to him. He was a need to feel safe. Ron also had this way of knowing exactly where Draco's comfort zone was, and he never went anywhere near it. It was when he awoke that he realized how much he depended on Ron and for the first time Draco wanted to be someone that Ron could depend on as well.

Ron blushed because he was happy. He was so happy when he woke up to see Draco's eyes, and he had no idea why he was so happy. He was embarrassed of being held by Draco because he enjoyed it. Ron woke up feeling refreshed, and he almost forgot what that feeling was like. He remembered their conversation the night before. Ron had opened up to Draco. He realized that until last night, he felt that Draco was someone that he needed to protect. He had not expected Draco to be someone that he could also rely on with his feelings. It was comfortable. He remembered that first night when Severus and Draco were brought to Harry's flat. He could see the agony across Draco's face at losing his family. He didn't even know what made him move, "Thanks for being here for me."

"You are always there for me." Draco smiled back.

"What time is it?" Ron asked looking at the clock, "Wow, its late. I'm hungry."

"Yeah me too, maybe Harry cooked again." Draco hoped that this was true. They had grown accustomed to Harry's home cooking. They teased that he would make an excellent housewife.

"Err…I'm gonna get dressed now." Ron blushed a little while still clutching the blanket over his body. He silently kicked himself. There was nothing to be embarrassed of. He was fully clothed, but Ron blushed anyways.

"Oh yeah," Draco turned his back to give Ron his privacy, but also to hide his own embarrassment. This was the first time when Draco was in the room when Ron was undressing and dressing. He thought about all the times that Ron had seen him, and he felt the heat rising to his cheeks again as he talked about it.

"Do you want to share a room? " Ron asked from behind him quietly. Draco almost didn't hear it from the rustling of clothes.

"I don't mind. You and I didn't have any nightmares this time."

"No we didn't." Ron touched Draco's shoulder to let him know that he was done, and they left the room together. That night, they moved Ron's bed into Draco's room which was bigger and had a bathroom attached. It was more comfortable than sleeping on the floor or sleeping sitting up.

Severus waited until he was sure that Harry was asleep. He knocked on Blaise's door only once. Blaise had been waiting for him. The finger to his lips told Blaise not to ask any questions just yet. He waited until they were outside the gate before speaking, "What are we doing?

"We are going to collect Bellatrix's body and Rodolophus's. " Severus said. He almost smiled at the shocked look Blaise's face, but their mission was a serious one, "Don't ask why we need them just yet. I'll tell you soon. Don't tell the others about this. Its between me and Miss Granger."

"You and Granger?" Blaise asked, but was shushed by Severus as they approached the Malfoy ruins. Blaise whispered this time, "Do you think they are still there?"

"Yes, because they weren't supposed to lose. They were going to torture us for a few days before turning us over to the Dark Lord. We should be able to find them." Severus's movements were quiet, but Blaise began to shiver as they entered the graveyard again. He could just remember being tied and naked to Lucius's tombstone. He had been touched too briefly by Bellatrix. It made him sick remembering this place where he was humiliated and his best friend was almost raped. He honestly felt like throwing up.

Sensing his discomfort, Severus turned around to look at him, "Turn around, you don't need to see this."

Blaise was only too happy to oblige. He could here Severus cracking branches as he walked. Severus covered the bodies with black cloaks so that Blaise didn't not need to see their faces. They used magic to move them because neither man wanted to touch them, "How did you find Bellatrix's body? I thought Ron blew her up."

"I only needed her hair. I destroyed the rest of the evidence." Severus held up two clear bags with hair clippings from both bodies, "This is all we need."

"Polyjuice potion." Blaise realized what he was going to do, "Severus, are you going to be a spy again?"


	11. Chapter 11 I Won't Let You Go Alone

Chapter 11

Severus and Blaise stood facing each other in Harry's flat with the flesh and hair of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange on the table covered with a dark cloth. There was silence for a long time, but Blaise was the first to speak, "I want to be the one."

"No, you're going to get killed."

"What if you die, do you think that Harry concentrate if you were the one to be killed?" Blaise had Severus cornered, not by a wand, but by the fact that he needed Blaise to keep his secret, "How many more people do you think that Harry needs to lose before he breaks to the point where even he can't come back?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. Harry will be fine. He's young, and he has his whole life before him." Severus paused, "So do you."

"No, you don't believe that your life has value, Severus. You have someone waiting for you in your home who is worried to death that one day you will never walk through those gates again. Harry has lost everyone that could be a mentor to him, and you are just walking right into it." Blaise argued, not backing down. Perhaps he was not so different from a Gryffindor after all.

"It was my failure that allowed you all to get hurt last time." Severus's eyes refused to meet Blaise's, "I need to be allowed to fix this."

"What if you are forced to kill, torture or rape someone? Rodolphus almost raped Draco. If you were ordered to, could you rape someone?" Blaise asked with narrowed eyes?  
"Could you?" Severus returned the same icy cold eyes. They were interrupted by the tapping of a window. Wands drawn, Severus and Blaise approached with caution. It was an owl. With the greatest care not to reveal who they were, they opened just enough to let the message carrier in.

Blaise recognized all the color immediately and all the color drained from his face. Severus had never seen Blaise's face turn that color before. He allowed the younger man to open the letter. Blaise destroyed the letter quickly, and Severus was betrayed. Blaise had him bound before the last edge of the letter disintegrated. He refused to look at Severus, but would only say, "I'm sorry."

Severus's face was more of concern than of fear. He recognized the look of someone without a choice, but nevertheless, he had been captured again. Blaise brought Severus out of the flat, and disapparated with him.

Harry knocked on Severus's door the next morning to call him down to breakfast, but the truth is that he just wanted to see the older man. Without an answer, Harry left and went downstairs to cook. When Ron and Draco were the only two to emerge from Draco's room, he was surprised to see them. Blaise was usually up long before they were. Harry and Blaise would compete to see who would make breakfast first, but he was not there either.

"You don't suppose he slept in do you?" Ron looked at Draco who shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never known him to sleep in before, but its possible." Draco walked over to Blaise's door. Draco raised his hand to knock, but Ron stopped him.

"If he's asleep, we should let him sleep. He's earned a morning off." Ron smiled, "Besides we have Mrs. Potter, our mother extraordinaire."

"Ha, next time you say something like that, I will tell your real mother." Harry fired back, and the look on Ron's face was exactly what he was looking for. Draco stifled a laugh. It wasn't until around noon when they began to worry. They tried Blaise's door first because he would have the milder temper if he was suddenly woken up. His door just opened, and the three young men stepped in. There was no one there. Draco bravely checked the bathroom, it was empty. Harry ran to Severus's room, and threw open the door. The bed was still made as if it had never been slept in.

"Where are they?" Ron asked first. Draco shook his head to indicate that he was just as confused as they were. Harry ran to Severus's lab which no one was allowed in, but it was sealed with a password. He knocked at first, but there was no answer. Harry's imagination was running wild to the point where he wasn't even expecting an answer.

Harry tried, "Dumbledore, Lily, Evans, Eileen Prince,"

"Harry" Draco said from behind him. Nothing seemed to work, "I don't think he's in there."

"Were you calling my name or did you think that my name would be the password?" Harry asked with out looking, as he put his head against the door to Severus's lab.

"Both" Draco replied honestly, "I think something must have happened. They must have gone somewhere."

"It probably had something to do with where he went last time because Blaise is gone too." Ron came in from behind Draco.

"Where should we even begin looking?" Harry asked, and an answer came to them shortly by a knock on the front door. Everyone jumped. If it was Severus or Blaise, they would have walked right in. Severus had said that even the Dark Lord didn't know about this place. Harry and Ron went around turning off the lights making the manor extremely dark. They also closed all the curtains and turned them black. Draco and Harry had their wands ready as Ron carefully opened the door. A brunette with wavy hair ran into his arms.

"Ron, there's something wrong, I can't find him. Something must have gone wrong." Hermione blubbered into Ron's shirt. Ron put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her away just enough to see her face.

"What happened?" Ron didn't want to reveal that Severus and Blaise were missing just yet, but he suspected that that's what she wanted to talk about. Hermione was ushered into the kitchen by Draco and Harry. She told them about the conversation that he had with Severus.

"They probably went to get pieces of Bellatrix and Rodolphus" Harry inferred. Draco kept his expression blank.

Hermione nodded, "I found this" She held up the cloth covered pieces, but Ron stopped her until Draco had has back turned. It was Rodolphus's head, and pieces of Bellatrix's hair. Harry's stomach dropped.

"If they had this, who knows where they could have gone. Is it possible that they were caught?" Harry asked, "Where did you find this?"

"At your flat. It was where we were supposed to meet. I was going to gather the ingredients for Polyjuice potion." Hermione opened her bag to pull out supplies.

Thinking out loud, Ron said, "If they were caught, we should follow through with our plan. It would should be the only way to rescue them."

"Agreed," Draco still had his back turned, refusing to look at his uncle's face, "but who should go?"

"I think you already know that answer, Draco" Ron put his hand on Draco's shoulder as he moved the black cloth out of sight, "Harry can't get caught, and I probably know Hermione better. It would be better if we worked together."

"Doesn't Polyjuice potion take a month to brew though? We don't have that kind of time." Draco argued, "I don't agree to this plan. I know the death eater's better. It should be me to go. He was my uncle; I knew him best."

"I think I should go," Harry tried, but all three of the others stopped him.

"Harry, if you get caught, its over for all of us. Not just us, but everyone who doesn't agree with him. You can't go," Draco spoke sounding just like Severus.

"Draco, you know it has to be me. Whoever goes has to act with Hermione perfectly, and you two aren't exactly comfortable with each other." Ron spoke to Draco softly.

"It doesn't matter who goes, if we don't have Polyjuice." Harry pointed out.

"Expellarimus," Draco pointed at Hermione's wand which flew out of her hand and into his.

"Hey git, what was that for?" Hermione spat looking annoyed.

"Now, Bellatrix's wand responds to me." Draco said, "I'm not letting you go without me, Ron." Draco handed Hermione his own wand as proof that he could be trusted.

"You want to wear your Aunt's dress?" Harry teased.

"Don't make fun of him, Harry. We are all doing this to save you." Ron defended Draco. Harry nodded and apologized.

"Hermione, could you break into Severus's lab?" Harry asked, "He probably already has Polyjuice potion in there."

"I can try" Hermione said sounding relieved that she did not have to play the role of Bellatrix again.


	12. Chapter 12 This is my Baby

Chapter 12

Severus recognized where he was being taken. There was a small house, that he had been to once. This was the Dark Lord's childhood home. He was being brought to see him. Blaise brought his body into the small house, and he knelt on the hearth before the Dark Lord. The face and body of the Dark Lord were covered with a dark cloak so that his face and features were covered, but Severus could recognize the mutilated hand anywhere. With a flick of his wrist, a painting of his father was removed from the wall, and Severus was brought to hang from that spot with his arms and legs bound like he was in the dungeon when he was caught the first time. The Dark Lord flicked his wand again, and Severus was stripped of his clothing and belongings.

"I've brought him to you, my lord. May I see her?" Blaise asked almost begging.

"You have only brought him here to me because I threatened you. You are no more loyal to me than he is." The Dark Lord spoke with a raspy voice, "Still, you have your uses."

A woman came in from the other room, and in her arms was a baby. Severus recognized her immediately. He had been cautious before even though he had been caught, but this was different. Pansy Parkinson had also been his student. He was grateful that she wasn't looking at him, but that wishful thinking was short lived when she met his eyes in horror. She clutched the baby tighter to her, "Professor"

"Pansy, are you alright?" Blaise asked with genuine concern.

"It appears that the baby is yours, is it not?" The Dark Lord said with an evil chuckle. The Dark Lord's mood changed, "I only need one to hold leverage over you. Avada Kadavra!" Pansy dropped to the floor, and the baby began to fall. Blaise ran to catch it before it hit the ground, but the Dark Lord summoned it into his arms.

"Please, don't hurt it." Blaise begged, "I'll do anything."

"I know you will. That's why she is still alive." The Dark Lord flashed his frightening eyes to him, "Oh, you didn't know. It's a she"

Blaise pulled Pansy's body into his arms and cried softly over the woman that he loved and the mother of his child, "I'm so sorry."

The Dark Lord turned towards Severus, "You are probably wondering why you are still alive, my child." The Dark Lord ran a long-mutilated finger along Severus's member causing him to hiss. The Dark Lord chuckled, "You are simply my decoration for now."

Days went by, and the Dark Lord treated Blaise's baby as if she were his own, caring for all her needs with magic. Blaise knew that the reason for keeping her alive was to keep his obedience. He treated Severus in the same matter, taking care of his bodily functions by magic. Occasionally, he liked to get a reaction out of the naked man by touching his private parts every so often causing Severus to growl like an animal or hiss like a snake.

After about a week, there was a loud thunderstorm outside their small house, and a hooded figure walked up and she seemed to bring another prisoner, "My Lord, I have brought you a gift."

Draco was bound and gagged. Although his body seemed almost beyond recognition from the various scars and wounds. He didn't even struggle, appearing to be unconscious. Bellatrix removed her hood. Severus did everything he could to not react, and he prayed that Blaise would do the same. Instead fear seemed to wash over his face, and the Dark Lord chuckled again "I would be afraid too, my pet. After all, she was the one who caught you betraying me the first time."

"I have brought you the last of the Malfoy line" Bellatrix said with a little pride, "such distastefulness should be wiped from my family."

"Excellent my sweet." The Dark Lord sat in his favorite armchair, "You've had a long journey, and I have missed you."

"I only wish to serve you." Bellatrix knelt on one knee as Blaise had done the first night.

"Very well, Bella." The Dark Lord opened his robe, "Service me, Bella"

Draco willed himself not to look horrified, instead he planted a smirk on his face. He didn't want to look at Ron who was disguised as him, but Draco couldn't afford to hesitate. He knelt in front of the Dark Lord and took his member into his mouth. The Dark Lord never moved a muscle. Draco, disguised as Bellatrix, said seductively, "Does this please you my lord."

"Continue, my sweet" The Dark Lord said without an expression. Draco could feel the Dark Lord's body reacting though. He surprised himself, Draco had no idea what he was doing, and he felt disgusted with himself. He was hoping he didn't have to continue any longer and that their plan would work. They had an hour before their disguises wore off and they were left in a more dangerous position than they were. Ron tried his hardest to remain unconscious. His eyes opened a crack in a position where the dark lord couldn't see him. He saw the baby from across the room. They would have to move soon. A wand appeared in midair and disarmed the Dark Lord.

Ron got up quickly and released Severus, but what they didn't expect was the Dark Lord knowing wandless magic, and he went after the baby first. Blaise and Severus both dove to try and save her, but the blast hit Blaise first. Severus managed to reach the young child. He could only see Blaise's lifeless body. Hermione covered them both with Harry's invisibility cloak to save them, and she was killed too. Draco used Bellatrix's wand to bind the Dark Lord. He tried so hard to fire a killing curse on the Dark Lord, but it only weakened him further. Remembering only Harry could actually kill the Dark Lord, they grabbed all of the bodies and left.

A dozen or so Death Eaters all covered in hoods emerged. There were curses and hexes firing. Ron and Draco were the only ones left and Severus who was hiding with Blaise's baby. There was no way they were going to survive this. Ron covered Draco with his body and as he was about to be hit with a slicing hex, they were rescued by Mad-Eye and the rest of the Order. Charlie was the one who managed to reach his brother first. Harry was among them. He searched all over the house for the Dark Lord, but he was nowhere to be found. In the space of a heartbeat, the Death Eaters had disapparated as

The breath of relief filled the air for a second before grief took over. Charlie had his arms around his brother but was trying to get to Hermione. Harry reached her first and pulled her into his arms. Severus remained hidden but brought Blaise's body so that he laid next to Pansy. Mad-eye had the order tear the house apart looking for clues that would help them find the dark lord. It was Ron's turn to hold his friend's lifeless body, and Harry stood up to give him some privacy.

"Severus, where are you?" He called out. A tap on his shoulder answered his question, "Can I see you?"

Severus lifted the hood just slightly to show his head, "Here take this," Harry moved to grab his cloak, but Severus stopped him immediately, "Not the cloak, her."

Severus led Harry over to a small corner of the house so that if opened the cloak a little, Harry would be the only one to see anything. Severus did his best to remained covered while handing Harry the baby, but it fell off during their exchange. He picked up the cloak quickly once Harry had the young girl firmly in his hands. Severus even covered his face unwilling to look at the younger man in the face. Harry asked, "Who is this?"

"This is the daughter of Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. I don't think she has a name yet." Severus spoke. Understanding that Severus was explaining how he was captured, Harry nodded.

"Just keep that until we can find you some clothes, I'll take care of her for now." Harry said turning away slightly. He looked down at the innocent little girl, and she reminded him of the night his parents were killed. He was only a baby then, although he was slightly older than her. He promised that she wouldn't go through what he did. Mad-Eye and the order were conducting their investigation of the house when Harry asked if they could return to his flat. He didn't want to reveal anything about Snape's manor if he could.

"Yes, of course Harry. Take the bodies with you, and your friends. They've suffered enough." Mad-eye put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "Now, I trust them."

Harry nodded. Draco and Ron were grateful to be leaving. They knew that it wasn't to Harry's Flat that they were going to. A hand on Harry's shoulder told him that Severus was ready to return as well. Mad-eye made Harry promise to debrief at Grimmauld Place the next day, and they all returned to Severus's Manor. Harry saw footsteps enter the house and walk upstairs. Harry carried the baby who seemed to be he realized was stunned. He felt horrible. How could the Dark Lord stun a newborn? Harry transfigured a chair into a crib and revived the baby who let out a loud wail. Draco and Ron looked stunned at the little addition to their kitchen, Severus who had now emerged completely dressed was not nervous. He picked up the small child delicately and cooed softly down at her, "Now then, I believe you need a name."

"What should we name her?" The other three asked together.

_Thank you for reading this story. I really enjoy writing it. Its not done yet don't worry. I have all the scenarios in my head that I would like to add so be patience. Several of you commented that some of the relationships in this story are moving too fast, and that would be due to my impatience. I can't wait to see what happens next. Thank you all for your support. _


	13. Chapter 13 You Are Beautiful

Chapter 13

Severus was running on pure adrenaline. He dropped Harry's cloak the moment the door to the master bedroom closed and grabbed a dressing gown before going downstairs, and grabbing the baby. It wasn't long before the toll on his limbs kicked in. He almost dropped her. Severus whimpered slightly, "Harry, please, I can't hold her."

Harry grabbed the baby quickly and Draco caught him before he fell to the ground. Ron grabbed a chair so he could sit, "We'll come up with a name later. Severus you need to rest. You've been through a lot."

"Ron, I'm gonna brush my teeth." Draco said with disgust, suddenly remembering what he had to do. In an ordinary circumstance, Ron would have laughed, but he remembered how gross that scene was. It made him want to hurl, and it wasn't him who had to do it. Ron tried to distract himself by being useful.

"I'll watch her, Harry." Ron said opening his arms to take the baby. Harry shot him a grateful look. His best friend knew him well, "I'm sorry I snapped at you before."

"No, mate, I was wrong. Thanks for being her." Harry and Ron shook hands. Ron looked like a natural with the baby as well. Perhaps it was because he had siblings. Harry snaked his arm around Severus's waist, "Lean on me, Severus"

Severus wanted to protest, but he couldn't deny how weak he felt. With one hand, Severus closed his dressing gown tighter. He had been so worried about the baby that he forgotten what the Dark Lord did until Draco had reminded him. Still, he let Harry help him up the stairs. Harry opened the master bedroom door and tried to put Severus to bed.

"Let me shower first, Harry" Severus said with pink dusting his cheeks, "Just bring me to the bathroom, and then you can go."

"Severus you can't lift your arms. How will you wash?" Harry asked with genuine concern, "I can cover you with a towel, and help you."

"No, I want to wash…" Severus flushed bright red, and couldn't bring himself to say it.

The shock on Harry's face was undeniable, "Did you he do something to you?"

"He touched me," Severus still couldn't look at Harry in the face. Severus was heavy, but Harry didn't want to look like it bothered him, "I want to wash the feeling of it off."

"How can I help?" Harry asked honestly.

Severus closed his eyes and sighed. Severus hated the feeling of those awful hands on his body especially a part of him that no one had ever touched. It made him feel sick. He needed to wash, but he knew that he had no strength. Severus looked at Harry. This was Harry. Harry would risk everything to make sure that he was okay. Harry wasn't James who would bully him remembering how James had exposed him on the school grounds. He had nothing to be ashamed of around Harry he knew that. Severus swallowed his pride, "Just help me into the tub."

"Alright, " Harry led Severus into the bathroom, and helped him undress. When Severus was naked, he used his free arm to cover himself trying to hide as much as he could from the younger man's eyes. When Severus had been captured, his humiliation was mixed with anger, but this was just pure embarrassment.

"Don't look at me, please. I know it's hard, but please," Severus had his face turned away. Harry's eyes focused on the tub and didn't look anywhere it didn't have to. When Harry finally lowered Severus into the tub, he pulled the curtain in front of the potions master. Severus saw a washcloth hovering in front of him. He was grateful that Harry used magic instead of trying to hand it to him. Severus scrubbed as hard as he could. It was a sensitive part of his body so it hurt, but he couldn't erase the horrible feeling. He couldn't even stop the tears. He just kept scrubbing until his hand was raw.

He was an adult, and an older man. Everyone had seen his weakness this time. Severus pulled his knees up and hugged them around him. He just kept scrubbing. From the movement behind the curtain, Harry could see what he was doing. Torn between giving Severus his privacy and concerned that he would hurt himself worse, he didn't really know how to help. It was when Severus cried out that Harry threw open the curtain and grabbed Severus's arm, "Stop, you are hurting yourself."

Opening his eyes in shock, anger, and shame, Severus bent forward to cover his body, "Harry please, close the curtain."

"No, I won't let you hurt yourself anymore. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to defeat him. If I could just do the one thing that everyone needs me to do, people would stop hurting." Harry put his arms around the older man, he was getting soaked through, "I'll do better, so please stop hurting yourself."

"I feel disgusting. He fucking touched me." Severus would not move his arms that were covering his body, but he leaned his face into Harry's shoulder, "I've never been…"

"Severus, there's no way you could be disgusting. You are beautiful. What he did to you does not make you weak. You are the strongest person that I know." Harry grabbed the washcloth that Severus was holding and gently began to make suds on Severus's back. Harry used the shower head to, as gentle as he could, rinse them off. He found a bottle of shampoo and began to knead it into Severus's hair. The feeling of someone who cared caressing his head relaxed him. Severus leaned further into Harry's warmth. Harry washed Severus with care, and he never once went anywhere intimate. When Harry finished, he dried Severus off with a towel and dressed him in pajamas before tucking him into bed. Before Severus drifted off to sleep, Harry leaned over and whispered in his ear, "You are beautiful".

Downstairs, Ron had sat in one of the parlor arm chairs gently rocking the baby, when Draco came down to look for them, "I can't believe that Pansy was a mother."

"I had always thought that this child would have been yours. Weren't you and Pansy…you know." Ron blushed a little. He didn't have to finish that sentence because Draco understood.

"Yeah, for a brief time during our fourth year, but she wanted something that I couldn't give her. I wasn't in love with her. I was just angry and trying to please my father." Draco smiled at the image of Ron with a newborn in front of him, "Are you going to be alright? Granger was…important to you."

"No, I'm not alright," Tears threatened to enter Ron's eyes, but he focused his attention on the baby, "She makes it better. We lost a lot this time, Draco. Hermione has always been there since the beginning. I always thought that if we didn't have her, there would be no way that we could survive. We depended on her so much, and now she's gone." There was no fighting it. Ron could not stop small drops of saltwater from leaving his eyes. They fell onto the baby's clothes.

Draco's arms circled around his head so that he could hide his face, "Shhhh, but Granger won't be forgotten, and you are just as strong as she was, Ron."

"I miss her so much. I wasn't in love with her the way everyone wanted me to, but I still loved her." Ron couldn't go on. Draco put the baby down in the bassinet since she was asleep, and wrapped his arms fully around the red head. Ron was shaking through his grief.

"I thank Merlin that you didn't die too, and I have to thank you for saving my life." Draco held Ron tighter as he cried harder.

"I don't want to lose any more people, Draco. I wouldn't survive, if I lost you too." Ron said honestly finally calming down and rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.

Draco put his hands on Ron's face and moved them up so that his eyes were looking at him, "You won't lose me. I won't die so easily, and you need to promise me that you won't either. I probably won't survive without you either."

"I…" Ron barely opened his mouth when Draco covered his lips with his own, "Dra.."

"You can rely on me too." Draco smiled when they finally parted. He leaned in for another kiss when they were interrupted with a loud wailing from the bassinet next to them, "But you can't rely on me in this situation."

Ron chuckled as he bent down to pick up the baby again, "Hey what if we named her Mione, after Granger?"

_I've been so impatient to write this chapter, and I couldn't wait any longer. I hoped you enjoy it. Once again, thank you for reading my story, and for all your support. _


	14. Chapter 14 It's Our Move

Chapter 14

The next morning, Severus woke-up to a dark room, and he sat up immediately pointing his wand out. When he realized that he was in his own bedroom he looked down to make sure that he was dressed. To his relief he was dressed in his own pajamas. Pajamas? Suddenly his face flushed red as he remembered what happened the previous night. He remembered how Harry had bathed him by hand and dressed him like he was a young child. Severus looked over and Harry was sleeping in a chair. He sat up all night with Severus, watching over him. Severus didn't know the last time someone cared for him like that. Severus tried to stand, but his legs gave in. They were still sore from being hung on a wall. Harry woke up when he heard the thud, and was by Severus's side in a second, "Severus, it will take time."

"I know, I just…" Severus couldn't get the right words out, "I'm not used to being so helpless."

"You aren't helpless. You went through something unimaginable, and your body needs time to recover. Let me be your arms and legs." Harry led Severus to the loo with much less protest than the night before. Although, Severus still blushed whenever Harry had to touch him, he was starting to smile at the kindness, "Do you know the spell that Hermione used to change your clothes?"

"Yes,"

"I think it was '_Divesto'" _Harry said point his wand at Severus.

"Wait, not that one." Severus waved his hands to try and stop the wand, but he found himself grabbing the comforter off the bed instead to cover his body, "It's this spell." Severus told Harry the correct spell.

"Sorry" Harry said quickly as he dressed Severus with magic. Harry helped Severus down the stairs. He looked into the kitchen hoping to find Blaise, but remembered that Blaise wasn't alive anymore. Harry tried to hide his sad look from Severus. They walked into the parlor and snickered to each other at the sight. The baby was sound asleep. Ron was passed out on the floor and Draco looked in a similar state on the couch. Harry helped Severus into another chair, and waved his wand to cover Ron and Draco with blankets, "I'm going to go into the muggle town to purchase somethings for the baby."

"Wake one of them up. You shouldn't go alone." Severus said smiling at his living room. Harry nodded, and woke Ron up. Ron jumped and pulled his wand out.

"Hey its just me. We need to go buy somethings, but we need to go into the muggle town to cause less attention." Harry said.

"Let me go change" Ron disappeared for a couple of minutes and came back wearing some muggle clothes. Harry used the new spell that Severus taught him, and left. As soon as the door closed, the baby started crying again. Severus wanted to go pick her up, but his body couldn't move freely on his own yet.

"Ron, can you get her?" Draco moaned in his sleep.

"Ron left with Harry a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, I can't stand very well yet" Severus said with an amused look. Draco dragged himself off the couch to pick up the baby.

"I think she looks like Blaise don't you think? We were thinking of calling her Mione, after Granger. What do you think?" Draco smiled down at the innocent little face.

"Let's ask Harry's opinion when he returns." Severus leaned back, "Mione Zabini, It's certainly different."

Ron and Harry walked through the muggle town. They didn't even know which town it was, but Harry was sure people were staring at them because they were a mess. He didn't even want to think about what they looked like, and they were about to buy baby supplies. Harry blushed a little bit at the thought, "We can't be long because we promised Mad-Eye that we would meet him and the order today. We should also hold some sort of service for Blaise and Hermione."

"We should include Pansy too. We didn't know her, but she's the mother of that baby so we should respect her in some way" Ron said as they walked.

"Did something happen? You look different somehow?" Harry asked.

Pink began to dust Ron's cheeks, "What are you talking about? I probably look exhausted. That baby woke up every few minutes."

"I'm sorry I left you with her last night. Severus need help last night." Harry really did look guilty.

"No man, its okay. I knew that he would have some trouble, like Draco did the last time." Ron smiled.

"You look happier, mate. Seriously, did something happen?" Harry asked, almost knowing the answer, but he wanted his best friend to say it. He wanted something happy to think about.

"Yeah something happened," Ron turned his face away so that Harry couldn't seen him blush.

"I'm happy for you, Ron. We need a little joy in our life." Harry smiled. As predicted, they lots of smiles when they purchased formula, bottles, and nappies. When they went to shop for clothes many customers thought they were together. So Harry started to talk about Ron's wife as if that's who they were shopping for.

"Don't tell Draco that we called him my wife. He would kill me." Ron laughed. When they returned, Harry and Ron just looked at each other before they started laughing. Draco looked exhausted.

"She won't stop crying."

"She's probably hungry. I'll go heat up a bottle." The morning seemed peaceful, almost too peaceful. After lunch, they left for Grimmauld Place where the order was waiting for them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley threw their arms around their son. Ginny was in tears. Harry and Ron couldn't even look at the body that had a cloth over her, knowing that it was their friend. Draco was holding the baby, unsure of how the others would react. It was Charlie who noticed first.

"Who's that?" Charlie asked.

"This is the daughter of Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson." Draco said, "Blaise had Severus captured because the Dark Lord held her hostage."

"That's awful," Charlie sympathized, "I'm glad that you guys could rescue her."

"I plan on taking responsibility for her since her parents are now dead." Draco said proudly.

"How will you do that?" Charlie asked, "it must be hard when we are basically in hiding."

"We can do it together." Harry spoke-up, "But now's not the time to discuss her guardianship. We need to figure out our next step. I…don't want to lose any more friends."

"I think our next step is finding out where He is." Bill piped in for the first time, "But we struggled hard last time."

"We would have won that fight, which is why the retreated." Harry said, "I think the time is now. Severus, do you know any other hiding spots they could go to?"

"I can't think of any right now." Severus said looking tired.

"We went to the old Riddle house last time, but what about somewhere belonging to the Marvolos?" Ron suggested. People looked at him, almost shocked that he spoke, and even more shocked that he suggested something intelligent. Ron was used to those kind of looks, but it was a little annoying that people thought that he was stupid most of the time.

"You don't suppose there are more clues in the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

"There's one way to find out." Mad-Eye confirmed, "Let's form an investigative team. Harry, you are the only one who can speak parseltongue."

"I'll go. I've been there before." Ron said, and Draco piped in, "I won't let you go without me."

"Severus, you're injured." Harry said, shooting down what Severus was about to say next.

"What about me?" A quiet voice peeped, "I've also been there."

"Ginny, you're too young. I can't allow it." Mrs. Weasley protested.

"Mum, please, let me do this. I know I can do this." Ginny's eyes were red.

"I can't lose you" Mrs. Weasley held her only daughter.

"I don't want you to go either, Gin" Ron said.

"Then you will have to do with me, "Charlie responded, "I think a group of four should be enough." Mad-Eye finally agreed. They arranged another meeting in the following couple of days.

When they finally returned home, Harry volunteered to watch the baby while, Ron and Draco took a nap. Ron walked into Draco's room and smiled at the second bed that they had transfigured in there, "Ron, "

Ron had Draco in his embrace quickly, and his mouth were on top of his, "Draco, thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For being here while I grieved for my friend." Ron buried his face in Draco's hair.

"You were the one who was here for me first. You've seen at my worst, and instead of running you nearly killed yourself while taking care of me." Draco kissed him again, "Stop talking."

_I haven't decided whether the next chapter will have a love scene in it. I've never really written one before so I might have to practice a little. Be patient with me, the next chapter might not come as quickly because I want to do it right. We might have another chapter in between my first love scene. Once again, thank you for all your support. I hope you continue to enjoy my story. _


	15. Chapter 15 I've Never

Chapter 15

Ron didn't know when they made it to the bed, but when he looked down, Draco's face was flushed and staring at him like this is the way they were supposed to be all along. Ron's hands never moved from Draco's waist. They were supposed to be sleeping, and he was sure they were both exhausted. Suddenly Ron stopped, and ran into the bathroom with the door shut and locked. Draco sat up dazed slightly. He walked over to the bathroom, "Ron, are you alright."

Ron flushed red even though he knew that he couldn't be seen, "Yeah, I just need to use the loo. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"You don't have to hide it you know. I feel the same as you do. Come on out." Draco leaned his head against the door, but he instead tried a different plan, "Alohomora"

"Don't open the door please" Ron said right as Draco opened it. Ron bent forward and covered himself even though he was still dressed, "Don't look."

"Ron, its alright." Draco covered the distance to the blushing red head, and leaned his head against Ron's chest. Ron's arms instinctively wrapped around Draco. When their lower bodies touched slightly, Ron buried his face into Draco's shoulder and moved his hips away.

"Don't look at my face right now," Ron's face had not changed color in the slightest, "I've never…with anyone… before."

"Neither have I, but you've already seen me at my worst. I trust you more than anyone." Draco lifted Ron's eyes took look at him. He couldn't look more attractive than he did. The red dusting his cheeks and nose made Draco's heart pound in a way that he didn't know it could before, "I'm not ready for that step either, but you don't have to be ashamed for being human."

"I need to…um…take care of it though" Ron looked away again. If his face grew any hotter, it would explode.

"Do you want to do it together?" Draco asked shyly.

"What!" Ron's eyes opened wide, and he covered himself again, "I…"

"I won't look. We'll just be in the same room in our own beds." Draco suggested. He bit his lip as if he almost rejected it.

"Okay," Ron said so quietly that Draco almost didn't hear him, "You have to promise not to watch."

"We'll be covered so it won't matter, right?" Draco said.

"I don't want you to see my face, its so embarrassing." Ron wanted to say, but he didn't. Draco and Ron crawled into their beds and pulled the covers up to their chin. Looking into each other's eyes, their hands snaked down into their pants. Ron was the first to moan, and closed his eyes. Draco's panting brought him back into reality. He tried to bury his face in the covers when he started to feel more intense. He couldn't believe that he and Draco were doing this in the same room. He tried his hardest not to make noise. Curiousity won out, and he peeked his head out to look at Draco. His face was red and he was panting hard. The look on his face made Ron's member twitch and grow harder. Ron began to stroke himself a little faster, "You look beautiful."

Draco's face turned redder as he panted, he wanted to tell him not to stare, but he also wanted Ron to know that he trusted him. He was embarrassed beyond belief, but he wanted to be with Ron, "You look beautiful too."

Ron's hand just touched the sensitive tip, "Ahhh"

Draco's eyes widened at Ron's voice. Ron used his other hand to cover his mouth. They both moaned louder as if they were in raw agony. They were writhing in their beds. Draco grabbed his wand to put a silencing charm around the room as they were close to finishing.

Downstairs, there was a much louder noise coming from a small bundle in Harry's arms. He bounced her gently, he cooed at her, and he even tried rocking her. She just cried louder, "What do I do? I just fed her. I changed her."

"Give her to me." Severus commanded.

"Are you going to be alright? How are your arms?" Harry asked with a worried look.

"I'm alright, give her to me." Severus held out his arms. Harry laid soft bundle in the arms of the older man and the baby immediately quieted and snuggled into his chest.

"So it was just me that she hated." Harry scowled.

"She can probably tell that you are a Gryffindor. She probably wants to be with her own kind," Severus smirked.

"Are you hungry? I can make some food." Harry asked awkwardly.

"Surely, you aren't still hungry. You wolfed down Mrs. Weasley's cooking more than her own children did." Severus continued to tease.

"I'm glad that you are feeling better." Harry sat closer to Severus, "I hope that this will all be over soon. People are getting hurt and this would all stop once I do what I'm supposed to do."

"Don't be impatient. People die. That is a part of war, but if we are hasty, more people will die." Severus's eyes met Harry's, "You are not responsible for their deaths. We all make our own choices. I only wish I could go with you to protect you."

"Severus, I know how you would act, but the final battle needs to be just me and him." Harry's looked a little distant.

"I know, but until that moment, I will give my life to protect you as I have always done. Only now, I won't be doing it because I loved your mother. I want to protect you because you, Harry Potter, are important to me." Severus stroked the head of the baby in his arms as he smiled with delight at the pink that tinged Harry's face.

"Why me? You could have handed her to anyone else that day, but you found me." Harry's voice was intimate and soft.

"I was wearing nothing except your invisibility cloak, and I'm a very private person. If there was a chance of me being exposed in anyway, I would rather it be with someone that I trusted." Severus blushed a little, "I was right. It seems silly to care about my modesty at that point especially when I was on display for days, but…"

"No, I understand. Your body belongs to you. The only people who should see it are the people you allow." Harry said, "I am glad that you trust me though."

"I have trusted you since the day, you came to my rescue the first time." Severus smiled, "Bring the bassinet closer. I'm going to try and lay her down. Don't speak, she might wake while I'm trying."

Harry dragged the crib over and lowered the height with his wand so that Severus could lean forward. The professor leaned over gingerly to lay the baby in the crib. He gently began to rock the small bed back and forth, "You would have made a good father."

"In order to be a father, I would have needed someone to make a child with." Severus answered honestly, "I was serving two masters. There was no way for me to have the emotional capacity to have a normal relationship."

"Everyone deserves to be happy, Severus." Harry leaned his head on Severus's shoulder. Surprised at the touch, Severus was secretly happy that Harry would feel so comfortable around him. Although, it wasn't too surprising. Harry had to hand wash him before, and he never did anything to make him feel uncomfortable. All of Severus's shame was something that he brought upon himself. Harry respected his privacy even when he was completely exposed to the man. Part of him hoped that the war would end soon so that he could tell Harry his feelings, but part of him was terrified that Harry wouldn't survive the final battle. Still, the closeness was a comfort.

_I apologize for taking so long to update. I had so much to do for work that I hardly had anytime to rest. Here is the next update for Our Differences Makes Us Strong. I hope you all enjoy it. This chapter was different than what I thought it was going to be, but it seemed to fit my take on these characters. Thank you for all your patience and support. Please comment if you liked it or if you think it needs improvement. I sincerely apologize if there are any grammar errors, I'm writing this at three in the morning._


	16. Chapter 16 Looking For Clues

Chapter 16

Their resting period was short-lived. It was not long before Harry, Ron, Draco, and Charlie standing in Grimmauld place awaiting instructions from Mad-Eye. On the table were four vials of a perfected Polyjuice Potion that Severus created, but the only draw back to their disguises was that they would all have to look like female students. Harry and Ron were suddenly missing Hermione a great deal at that point. She would have probably come up with a better idea. Mad-Eye handed them their vials, and his intense stare made them down their potions quickly. Almost immediately they felt their bodies begin to change. A minute later, all four boys were clutching their clothes to their now smaller bodies. George was put in charge of their disguises. He couldn't help but snicker. Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley wasn't in the room at the time. He handed out their uniforms including underwear. Harry was thankful that he brought his invisibility cloak to throw over himself while he changed. Draco was hiding behind a couch. Ron hid behind his outdoor cloak, and Charlie had the same idea as Draco only behind a different armchair. When they were finished, they couldn't help but tug at their skirts to try and cover as much of their legs as possible. There must have been a competition to see who's face was redder.

"Ahem," Mad-Eye cleared his throat, "Remember, don't reveal yourself to anyone that you may recognize. Also, Severus was good enough to make this potion have longer wear than normal poly juice potion. You should have two hours before you change back."

Harry stood in front of Myrtle's bathroom with a sad look. Ron squeezed his hand a little. It might have been an awkward thing normally for them as friends, but the last time they were here, Hermione was with them. He could remember watching their brown-haired friend sitting with the cauldron in front of her. Harry and Ron both wanted to cry. Charlie interrupted them, "We need to go in, guys."

Harry took a deep breath before opening the door. It had not changed since they were there last. Ron was remembering the final battle. He and Hermione shared their one and only kiss in the heat of the moment. It felt right then, and it wasn't until later that he realized that he did love her. She was someone so special and important to him, but he wasn't so desperate for her affection the way he was with Draco. Still, he couldn't stand that she was gone. When his brother died, it hit Ron hard, but Hermione was their partner.

"Oooh, what do we have here? First years." Myrtle swooped down. Ron looked at Harry and Harry looked at Ron, "Hey Myrtle, how have you been?"

"Remember what Mad-Eye said." Charlie warned.

" We are about to open the chamber in front of her, but I trust Myrtle." Harry said confidently.

"Ooh, you're being naughty again Harry?" Myrtle swooped down, "Is that you, Harry?"

"Yeah its me, and Ron too," Harry pointed to the girl next to him. Myrtle floated down to look under their skirts. Harry and Ron flushed red and pinned their legs together and used their hands to keep their skirts over his legs, "Don't look."

"Harry, you've turned into a girl." Myrtle giggled, "You looked so much better as a boy covered in bubbles."

Harry's face turned redder. Charlie cleared his throat which brought Harry back to reality, "Myrtle, I'll talk you again next time."

"You promised to visit me, but you never came." Myrtle pretended to cry. Harry suddenly said some words in parseltongue and the four boys jumped down into the chamber.

Ron began laughing at first, "When did she see you covered in bubbles, Harry?"

"During the Triwizard tournament, I don't want to talk about it." Harry glared at his friend, "Come on, we have work to do."

"What are we looking for?" Draco whispered to Harry.

"Anything that will give us an idea to where Voldemort is." Harry said without thinking.

"Don't say his name," The three others said together. Ordinarily, this kind of situation would make them laugh, but they were suddenly feeling the pressure. On top of that, they had a time crunch because their disguises wouldn't last forever. They split up to cover the area of the chamber. Harry and Ron were near the snake.

"Are you sure it's dead," Draco asked cautiously.

"Yeah, Hermione and I pulled a couple of teeth out last time." Ron said with a touch of sadness.

"Can you guys lift him up?" Charlie asked. Harry, Ron, and Draco all used a hover charm to lift up the large snake. It was much scarier looking when it was floating in the air. There blood looked like it was dried, but the venom was dripping.

"Charlie watch that stuff. Its deadly. We shouldn't lift him up like this." Harry called out. They let him fall gently to the ground. Harry climbed up to where the giant stone head was, "I remembered. Dumbledore said he found the marvolo ring somewhere."  
"Do you suppose we could ask Dumbledore's painting?" Ron asked.

"Or we can try to find Dumbledore's pensieve. I feel like there's something that we're missing." Harry said.

"We can't just waltz into the Headmaster's office. We should come up with a plan because we don't want McGonagall to know what we're investigating." Charlie responded, "and we need to make it off of school grounds before our disguises wears off."

The four boys pointed up towards the entrance of the chamber, "_Ascendio"_. Myrtle was waiting for them. She was giggling, "Harry, you're back."

Remembering what she did last time, he instinctively tugged his skirt down a little, "We have to go now Myrtle. We'll come visit next time."

"You always say that. Next time, I won't cover for you. I'll tell everyone what you're doing if you don't come back." Myrtle crossed out her arms and pouted like a five year old child.

"I promise." Harry said.

"Okay," Myrtle winked before letting them go. They were running out of time. They were near Hagrid's hut when their disguises started to wear off. They were running now to try and make it off of school grounds. They could see students still on the grounds.

"To the Forest," Charlie said quickly. Grateful for the cover of the Forbidden Forest, they stopped to catch their breath. Harry reached into his pocket to grab his wand to light it when he saw that he returned to being a boy. The first year uniform that he was wearing ripped in half. He covered himself quickly with his hands. He blushed when remembered that he was wearing girl's underwear too. He grabbed whatever was left of the uniform jacket and held hit over his private area before taking the underwear off. He tied the jacket around his waist. The other three saw what Harry was doing and blushed themselves as they tried to cover as much of their important areas as possible.

"We clearly didn't think this through." Ron muttered under his breath, "Harry, do you have your cloak?"

"No, Mad-Eye said he needed it for something." Harry said trying to avoid looking at his friend directly. Draco was trying to hide behind Ron. Charlie looked a lot more uncomfortable than the rest of them who had been through a few incidents together.

"I think we should wait until dinner has started before we leave." Charlie said honestly, "I know this situation is great, but it's more important that we don't get caught."

The others agreed. Harry wanted to hide behind a tree, but it was important for them to stick together. Then Harry had an idea, "I don't like hiding in the forest though. Maybe we should aim for the shrieking shack. There might be some old clothes there from when Lupin used to transform"

They followed Harry towards the Whomping Willow, through the dark tunnel into the shrieking shack. There weren't clothes, but there were pillows and blankets which were better at covering their bodies than the too small uniforms that they were wearing.

"Harry, we're in the shrieking shack right?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, that's why I led us here." Harry said slightly confused.

"If we push open this door to the outside, we'll be in Hogsmeade right? Then we can apparate?" Draco suggested.

"That's a good idea, but lets repair the wall so people can't get into the shrieking shack." Charlie said as he pointed his wand at the wall, "_Diffindo"_

"_Reparo" _Harry fixed the wall before they returned to Grimmauld place to the snickering face of George.

_Once again, thank you for reading our little adventure here. I hope you all enjoyed it. I really appreciate all your support and guidance._


	17. Chapter 17 You Need Sleep

Chapter 17

George could not contain his laughter. Ron wanted to hit him, but Charlie got to him first. Charlie aimed a well-deserved blinding spell at the one eared jokester. George whined at the discomfort. Charlie found his clothes behind the chair where he left them and ran into the bathroom with the door shut. Grateful for the cover of the blanket, Draco hid behind the couch to dress. Ron and Harry found their clothes too. When everyone emerged dressed, Charlie undid the spell on George.

"What did you guys find?" George asked smartly, avoiding another comment that would get him hexed again.

"Nothing. We didn't find anything, but there might be some questions that we could ask Dumbledore's portrait." Harry said.

"Why didn't you go ask?" George asked with a little too much innocence that they didn't believe it was actually true. Still, it wasn't worth making a big deal over.

"We ran out of time, and we didn't want to run into any students" Harry said, daring George to make another comment. George was much less confident with the sassy remarks without his twin. He stopped his teasing much sooner when he realized that he was outnumbered four to one.

"That means you need to go back." Mad-Eye came in from behind George, "Perhaps, you should make an appointment to visit the headmistress. I'm sure she would be thrilled to see the heroes that help take back Hogwarts."

"What's the purpose behind that. Don't we want to keep a low profile? We don't want to attract too much attention." Harry said, "We don't want his followers to know what we are looking for although they probably have a guess."

"Do you want to go back in disguise?" Mad-Eye asked. All four of the men said no, "I presume that you also would like Severus to go with you this time."

"He probably has a few words that he would like to say to his portrait." Harry said honestly. Mad-Eye nodded.

" I think that five people is too many. I can sit this one out. You boys look like you would much rather have Severus with you." Charlie said in an understanding way.

"Charlie, we were thankful that you were there with us." Harry said with sincerity, "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Why don't you just write to McGonagall, Harry?" Ron asked, "She would probably help you find a way into the castle."

"I've never written her before, but I guess I could. I just feel a little bit awkward asking her for a favor like this." Harry said sheepishly.

"Harry, the fate of the world is at stake. She respects you and mentored you. McGonagall understands." Ron chided.

"Alright"

When they arrived at the gate of Severus's manor, the boys couldn't wait to get inside. No one wanted to admit, but their first thought was the baby. It was as if the four of them had adopted her together. Severus stopped them at the door and directed them the bathrooms to shower before they could touch anything. Draco was in his bedroom bathroom, Ron was in the one in the hallway, and Severus had allowed Harry to use the Master bath. When they emerged, the boys fought over who was going to get to hold the baby. To their surprise, Draco picked up little Mione first. Draco looked so good with the baby that Harry and Ron didn't really mind. Harry pulled Severus aside and told him what happened, and what they discussed with Mad-Eye.

"I doubt that I will have time to have a private conversation with Albus's portrait, but thank you for thinking about my feelings." Severus put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked with a tenderness in his eyes that he didn't know he had.

"My arms and legs seemed to have regained enough strength to function properly. I still tire somewhat easily." Severus said quietly so that only Harry could hear. He hated admitting any sort of weakness, but Harry, to him was different. He had leaned on the younger man, and he had carried him almost literally when he needed him. Severus still couldn't believe that this was Lily's son that he had developed this close bond with.

"Are you tired now?" Harry asked.

"I should be asking you that question. You seemed to have strained yourself. Go and rest," Severus turned Harry towards the stairs.

"I'm alright." Harry said.

"I insist," Severus said, "I'll walk you up."

"I'm not a child" Harry smiled. He was secretly very happy that Severus was making the effort to care for him, but he remembered that Severus was barely recovering himself.

"I'm tired. Come with me." Severus said holding out his hand which Harry happily took. Severus was a Slytherin to the core. The only way he could've gotten Harry to rest was to make sure his hero sensors were taken care of. Severus led Harry into the master bedroom. Severus was tired, but he remembered how Harry tirelessly helped him recover and then raced off on a dangerous mission, but he also remembered the days where he worked as a spy. How even on his worst assignments from either the dark lord or Dumbledore, he still showed up to work as if nothing had happened. Severus led Harry into the master bedroom, "Sleep here."

"What" Harry blushed, "It's your room, you said you were tired."

"What are the chances that you would let me sleep alone without silently watching over me?" Severus closed the door behind them, and pointed his wand at his bed, "_Engorgio_"

The bed grew wide enough so that they could both have their space, "Erm…Let me get my pajamas"

"_Accio Pajamas" _Severus summoned. Then he opened the door just a crack to allow them to fly in and fold themselves on the bed.

"I never get tired of saying this, but I love magic." Harry stared in awe of what happened, "Uh…I'm gonna change". He ran into the bathroom with his pajamas. Severus used magic to change his clothes because he wasn't lying when he said he was exhausted. When Harry came out of the bathroom, Severus was already in bed sitting up. Harry blushed bright red, and found it very awkward to be standing there in his pajamas. Severus folded back the covers a little as an invitation.

"Sleep, Harry" Severus smiled a rare smile, "You need the rest." Harry crawled into the large bed and tried to get comfortable, but he was much too aware of the person laying next to him. Exhaustion won, and soon they were both snoring.

Downstairs, Ron looked up to notice that they were alone, and he noticed the baby, "They left us with the baby."

"I could hold her all day. If you're tired, you can sleep." Draco kissed Ron on the lips softly. A dusting of pink brushed across Ron's face. He almost forgot that he and Draco had that kind of relationship.

"You are tired too. Let's see if we can have help her sleep. We can move her crib into our room." Ron said. Draco liked the sound of hearing Ron call his room theirs. Ron used his wand to hover the bassinet into their room. He placed in between their bebegan to whimper, Draco charmed the bassinet to rock itself. Mione was sound asleep again. Ron came from behind Draco and wrapped his long arms around the blond.

Draco turned and captured his lips, and their kisses deepened. He could feel both their bodies react. Draco led Ron into his bed. With the covers drawn they laid in the same bed, and they both reached their hands down into their pants as they had done the first time, "Ron, can I touch you?"

Ron felt the heat rising to his cheeks, "Um.. I guess." Draco reached down and pulled Ron's pants down a little. He tried to lift the covers up. Ron gasped, and stopped him, "Don't look down there."

"I thought you said I could touch you," Draco asked.

Ron buried his face into Draco's neck, "Don't look though. You don't have to look to touch do you?"

Draco understood what Ron meant and respected his wishes. His hands hesitated before gently running his fingers along Ron's length. Ron jumped a mile, but buried his face deeper into Draco's neck. He felt like he would die if anyone saw his face in that moment. It felt good. Draco's fingers began to stroke him. Ron would flinch every so often, "Does it feel good?"

Ron couldn't speak. His feelings were mixed with extreme embarrassment and extreme pleasure, "Ahh"

"Are you alright?" Draco stopped suddenly, "Does it hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt." Ron could was breathing heavy, "It feels good."

Draco became bolder and grabbed the length with his hand, and Ron couldn't help but cry out. Ron was writhing against Draco, and then all of a sudden he grabbed Draco and held tight as he came. Breathing heavy in the after math, Ron pressed his lips against Draco's. Ron's eyes seemed to search Draco's as if asking permission without using his words. Draco avoided Ron's eyes as he nodded, "Just don't look down there too"

Ron nodded.


	18. Chapter 18 I Am Home With You

Chapter 18

Standing in front of the headmistress's door brought bittersweet feelings to Harry. On the one hand, he felt almost as he did when he was a student being sent to the Headmaster's office because he had misbehaved. On the other hand, this would be the first time that he was entering this office and Dumbledore would not be there. There was so much death, and it meant that Harry had more people that he cared for than he realized. They had agreed that Severus and Draco would use the invisibility cloak to avoid questions, but when he stood in front of the great stone eagle, Harry suddenly panicked. He whispered, "Does anyone remember the password?"

Ron fumbled through his robes for the letter that Professor McGonagall sent. Like a student again, Ron dropped nearly everything on the floor and Harry helped him pick it up. Severus was growing impatient and was about to speak when the great stone eagle turned around revealing a staircase. All four wizards rushed up the stairs before they turned around again. The door was open and waiting for them. It was unlike her, but Professor McGonagall threw her arms around Harry and Ron in a warm embrace, "I'm so sorry about what happened to Ms. Granger."

"Thank you, Professor, "The office had changed. All of the small trinkets that Dumbledore had in his office had been replaced. The desk was now painted in white, and the décor was done in deep purple and gold. It seemed to suit the new Headmistress perfectly. Severus removed the cloak from Draco and his head.

"Severus, it is good to see you," She said sincerely with a gaze that said all was forgiven. The old man in the large portrait behind her desk smiled down at him. Understanding his need, Harry asked if they could sit on the couch while Severus had a brief moment alone with Dumbledore's portrait.

"My boy, you have been through hell and back. I am sorry." Dumbledore spoke in his usual understanding tone of voice. The warmth was still in his spirit.

"I am stronger than I look. Do you still have the books, the ones about those items?" Severus asked.

"I will have them sent to you. Even in this state, I still have my ways. You seem calmer, my boy did something happen." Dumbledore's twinkle was back into his eyes. In the painting it was more prominent. Severus was fortunate to have been facing the portrait. He, under no circumstances, wanted Minerva to see the blush on his face, "My boy, it is alright to be happy. He needs someone who is strong like you by his side, and you need someone who will see past your scars."

"I will protect him with my life until I can no longer do so. You have my word." Severus vowed, "This time, it will not because you have asked me to. It will be because I want him to survive."

"That's the way it should be, Severus." Dumbledore affirmed.

Over on the couch where the three boys were in a heavy discussion with the headmistress, "We have two focuses. We need to fulfill the agenda that Dumbledore gave Harry, and we need to convert many children of former death eaters onto our side. It could tip the scale." Ron laid it out as if he were showing it on a map, and Professor McGonagall stared at him as if she didn't recognize him.

"It is a proud day for a teacher when their students can now take over. Mr. Weasley, I see you have grown into a strong leader." She smiled, "What have you come to see your poor old transfiguration teacher about."

"We wanted to know if you have records of old students here." Draco spoke up.

"Which student are you looking for?" The Headmistress asked.

"For your protection, it is probably better if you didn't know. We want to make sure the students are this school are well protected."

"I am sorry, I do not know of a record. When I was deputy headmistress, but we only kept records of current students and recently graduated students."

"I'm sorry. We understand." Harry spoke, "It was really good to see you."

When they left, they made way back to the shrieking shack, "Severus, what did you find out?"

"He told me where the Marvolo house is, however, it's the Dark Lord's home, so we can't go without a plan." Severus explained, "Let's meet with Mad-eye tomorrow."

Severus walked into his home and looked around at his companions. This was home, and his companions almost felt like a family to him. They didn't feel like children that he had to raise and protect, the four of them were equals. He couldn't say that they hadn't face the horrors that Severus had because they had. Severus was first to witness to it. The sound of the baby's cries was not to be heard that night. They had decided that little Mione would have been safer with Ron's mother while they were fighting the Death Eaters, but her small presence made their home complete. Harry immediately went to the kitchen. He seemed to take on the role of mother in the manor. They ate their meals together. Severus wondered how long this peace would last. Each day presented new dangers.

Ron and Draco retired shortly after helping with the dishes. Harry started walking towards the bathroom but was stopped by Severus. He couldn't understand why he was terrified to ask the question, "I…"

"Severus?" Harry asked unsure of what Severus wanted to say. The truth be told is that if Harry had to guess there were a million things that he wanted Severus to ask, but he didn't want to speculate.

"Good night, Harry." Severus hurried back into his room. Harry waited a few moments and walked into the master bedroom. He smiled a little at himself when he heard the tub running. Without hesitation, Harry walked in.

Severus had just barely stepped his foot in when the door open. He flushed red and covered himself with the shower curtain. Harry sent him a small apologetic look, "Sorry, I thought you were already in."

"I.. uh.." Severus sat down in the tub with out letting go of the curtain until he was completely submerged. He pulled the curtain closed. This seemed a little ridiculous. Harry had bathed him by had previously. As awkward as it was sometimes, having Harry to talk to while he was in the bath was not a new thing. He was slowly getting used to it.

"What did you want to ask me before, Severus?" Harry asked boldly. He was a Gryffindor, of course.

Severus let out a slow breath, and asked calmly, "Will you spend the night here again?"

"I could do that."


	19. Chapter 19 I Have To Be Brave

Chapter 19

Mornings were peaceful at the Snape Manor. Ron was stroking Draco's hair. It seemed right to wake up with the blond in his arms. They had merged their bed together long before, and their newfound peace made them both very happy. Though they neither of them were fully comfortable for their relationship to move beyond what it had been, they were both content. When Draco woke up, he planted a small peck on Ron's lips before they both got up for the day. Their meeting with Mad-Eye was long. Since earning the order's trust, Draco was made an official member. There were even those who agreed that if the children of the death eaters wished to be freed, they should be rescued. However, if the dark lord used Blaise as an example, they would be even more terrified to come out of hiding.

"Our first course of action is to find information at the Marvolo mansion but getting in will require work. We need disguises and a plan to get out if things go wrong." Mad-Eye spoke.

"Do we have Polyjuice potion?" Charlie asked. He was invited into the meeting because of his involvement in the previous mission, "If this is just fact finding, we should carry a bottle with us like the fake Mad-Eye did."

"Its not a question of how we get Polyjuice potion, "Severus responded, "Who's hair do we use?

"That's true. Storming a death eater to lob off a chunk of their hair would be a dead give away."

"Not exactly, I know where we can go" Draco spoke almost too quietly, "Gregory might help us, he's not nearly as stupid as Vincent was."

"Who's Gregory?" Ron asked almost too quickly.

"Goyle, he used to follow me around, but the truth was that Father assigned him to protect me. He was paid to do it." Draco looked down at the mention of his father.

"Is there anyway to contact him?" Mad-Eye asked.

"Not from here, but maybe from Harry's flat. It's been used enough that none of the vital places will be exposed if we send the note from there."

"That's not a bad thought, but we're going with you." Ron spoke up, "I feel that its probably a smarter idea if we stay together. Its safer."

Harry had almost forgotten that he still owned a flat. It had been a while since he had been back. Walking in he felt immediately offended at the clutter that was in the flat. Waving his wand, it went back to neat and tidy quickly. Harry found a quill and parchment for Draco. Suddenly thinking, "Does anyone have an owl?"

"No, but I can get one from the house." Severus took the invisibility cloak and disapparated from the front door. It seemed so long ago that the four of them were living together in this tiny place. Draco seemed a little embarrassed. His first memory of this flat was him and Severus being rescued from the cell. They were chained to a wall, stripped of their clothing, and Ron had held him for quite sometime while he sobbed over the death of his parents. Ron seemed to be thinking the same thing when he slipped his hand into Draco's. Making sure that they were alone in the hallway, he stole a quick kiss.

"Draco, Ron, come look at this." Harry called from the other room, "This must have been the letter that Blaise received before Severus was captured."

"It's from Goyle."

"_Blaise, _

_ This hideout has been overtook. Nott was captured, I don't know where they've taken him. I have gone into hiding with many of our classmates. I don't know who to trust though. They found Pansy, I'm so sorry. I tried to go rescue her, but I couldn't get close. I know this is hard, but Severus would understand if you had to use him to bargain with. He would help us, he's always done it in the past. Merlin, I hope you're safe and this reaches you._

_ Goyle"_

"Well, I guess we know why Blaise kidnapped Severus. When Severus returned, Harry showed him the contents of the letter. A small part of him felt resentment after the humiliation that he went through when he was captured. Still, Goyle wasn't wrong, he understood the gravity of the situation. This war was making innocent people hurt other innocent people. Although, Severus could hardly count himself as innocent, but still. This needed to end, but at the same time he looked at Harry. The sooner this ended, it was possible that Harry wouldn't survive this. Severus didn't want to think about that.

"We can't send that letter. If it was intercepted, whoever, Goyle is protecting will be in danger as well. We need to try to find them on our own." Ron said, quietly.

"We found Blaise in Malfoy Manor. You don't suppose…" Harry thought to himself. Draco swallowed hard. The Manor was the last place where he wanted to be right now. He remembered what had happened last time, and he almost became sick. Ron put his arm around Draco.

"Is there another way?" Ron asked.

"It is the most logical place, but you don't have to come Draco. I know its hard." Harry tried.

Draco covered his mouth. He wasn't sure whether he was going to cry or vomit, but he was begging Ron with his eyes to take him home. Ron didn't hesitate. Forgetting about a cloak or any of it. He took Draco back to Snape's manor with Harry and Severus following them shortly. Ron rushed Draco up to their room, understanding Draco's need.

Draco couldn't allow himself to break down until he was safely in their room. Ron held him tight, until Draco stopped shaking. Ron didn't care that he was a mess or that Draco got his shirt all wet. He didn't care that Draco used to bully him and insult his family. Ron never mentioned a word of that. How could someone that he used to torment treat him with this much affection and respect? Then Ron said the words that he needed to hear the most.

"Harry's right. You don't have to go." Ron spoke calmly. This meant that Draco had to steal some of that Gryffindor bravery. They needed to win the war. Everything depended on it. Draco's fears would have to wait.

"I think that Harry's also right that Gregory is probably hiding there." Draco finally wiped the tears from his eyes, "We have to don't we?"

"We don't. Not until you're ready." Ron said firmly.

"Ron, I love you. I really do, but this is war. None of us will ever be ready." Draco said seriously, "but before we do this. Please…"

"Wha..what?" Ron asked stuttering a little. His face was red. Draco covered Ron's mouth with his and pushed him down onto the bed. The warmth from Draco's lips sent electric shocks throughout his body. Feeling his body react, Ron pushed Draco up a bit, "W…wait."

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

"I… I'm..I don't know what to do." Ron looked away embarrassed.

"Maybe take off your shirt." Draco said quietly. Heat rushed to Ron's cheeks so that they now matched his fiery red hair. With awkward fumbling hands, Ron took off his jumper. Draco touched the top button of Ron's shirt. Still horribly embarrassed, he didn't stop Draco. He had no reason to be embarrassed. Harry and Ron used to change and shower in the quidditch locker rooms regularly. This was different though. When his shirt came off, Ron crossed his arms over his chest. He suspected it was the cold that made him feel more exposed.

Draco took off his own shirt. This was Ron, he had nothing to fear with this man here. He thought that Ron's modesty was adorable. Ron grabbed a pillow and laid it over his lap. He buried his face in the pillow. Draco pulled the pillow away quickly and covered Ron's lips with is own again. Ron's arms slowly slipped around Draco's waist. Having Draco's hands on his chest felt incredible. Ron buried his face into Draco's shoulder as Draco touched one of his nipples. He even gasped when Draco leaned down to lick one and then suck on it. Draco grinded his pelvis against Ron's creating a friction that made Ron blush even more but feel even more incredible.

Gaining more confidence, Ron began to explore Draco's body too. He touched places that made Draco gasp. When Draco's fingers started to stroke his lower belly, Ron found his confidence and kissed Draco hard. There was a need there that overcame any nervousness or embarrassment. Ron sat up and positioned Draco so that he was straddled on his lap. Both of their bodies rubbed against each other. Kissing became harder and more urgent. Their breathing became heavier. Their pants became tighter. Then it was hard to tell who decided to first, but Draco's hand touched Ron's belt buckle and Ron's fingers was on Draco's button.

_(I have to confess, I have never written a lemon scene before. So hopefully, it turns out well.)_


	20. Chapter 20 (Warning Lemon) I See You

(_I apologize way ahead of time. This is my first time writing a lemon of any sort, but when I look back to when I had fantasized about my first time. This is how I wanted it to go._ )

Chapter 20

Naked, they were naked. The heat from their intensity had died down when they realized that they were sitting there in front of each other wearing absolutely nothing. Not only were they naked, but they were aroused and naked. Ron's face matched his hair. Draco's face also matched Ron's hair. For Draco, it wasn't as if Ron hadn't seen him without clothes before. He had been on display for the whole world to see more than once. This was the first time that Draco saw Ron's body though. He was beautiful. Tall, but not too think. He looked at those strong arms that often held him. The lips that had just been on his. Ron loved him, despite all of his flaws as a human. He loved him, and he was free for Draco to touch.

Ron had grown up with five brothers and one sister. Walking around in nearly nothing wasn't uncommon in a house full of boys. Even Ginny had walked in on her brothers on more than one occasion, he shuddered at the memory. This was different. It was just the two of them in the room, and the room seemed to be getting smaller. For fear of doing something wrong, Ron waited until Draco did something first. Draco seemed to understand Ron's hesitation. They had messed around a few times, but this was completely different.

Draco's hand touched Ron's shoulder and his fingers started moving down the arms that were so strong. He felt the safest when he was in these arms. Draco's arms slid around Ron's waist and pulled him close. He shuddered a little when their members touched. Ron buried his face into Draco's shoulder, "Ron, look at me."

Ron shook his head, "I can't"

"Ron, please" Draco asked. Ron slowly looked up at the blond man. The same blush also covered his cheeks. Carefully, their lips met as if this was their first time, "Touch me"

Ron's fingers hesitantly touched Draco's tip. Draco closed his eyes at the sudden sensation. This was different then when his uncle touched him. It felt good, really good. He didn't know how to tell Ron how good it felt. Draco reached out to grab Ron's member and began stroking it up and down. Once again Ron's face was buried into Draco's shoulder, but this time he was breathing heavy. When Draco's thumb brushed against Ron's tip, a loud moan came from the red head. Growing braver, Draco pushed Ron back onto the bed and slid down his lover's body. For the first time, Ron's most intimate part of his body was right in front of his face. Ron covered his face with his hands, "Don't stare it like that."

"You have really red hair." Draco smiled. Ron's hand shot down to cover his member.

"Don't look" Ron gasped. Draco pried Ron's hands away and took the member into his mouth. Ron's back arched up as he cried out in pleasure. From the top of the tip all the way down to the base Draco's head bobbed up and down. Alternating the pressure from sucking to licking, Ron couldn't stand it anymore, "Draco, stop"

"What's wrong? Didn't you like it?" Draco suddenly worried that he had hurt Ron.

"No, it felt really good. Too good." Ron didn't want to say anymore than that. Draco seemed to understand. Instead, Draco grabbed his wand, "W..what are you gonna do?"

"It's going to hurt if I don't do this. Do you mind this time?" Draco asked, "I…"

Ron let out a deep breath, "Okay."

"Let me know if it hurts, and we can stop." Ron nodded. Draco slightly bent the red head's knees up so that an even more intimate place was revealed. Ron wanted more than anything to be covered up. He felt so vulnerable and exposed, but he trusted Draco. He felt a finger touch him down there. Draco stroked him gently. Whatever spell he cast seemed to make his finger damp. Draco used his free hand to stroke Ron's member. Whatever feeling Ron had down there seemed to flow to the rest of his body.

Then the movements stopped, and Ron could only see Draco's nose right in front of his intimate place, "Don't stare at it like that. It's really embarrass..ah"

Without warning, he felt something wet down there, "You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life."

"Stop licking, its dirty." Ron gasped in pleasure.

"There's no way that you would be dirty." Draco spoke softly. Still, Draco had his finger down there again, and this time there was a little pressure. Ron sucked in his breathe at the intrusion. Draco stopped with when the tip of his finger was inside, and then he pulled it out. The next time he put his finger in a little bit deeper. Ron couldn't think about anything. His mind was blank, and the only focus was what was happening in a place that Ron only touched when he was cleaning himself. Again, with a sudden movement, Draco's entire finger was suddenly inside Ron.

Ron cried out in pain and pleasure, "I've never felt that before."

"Does it hurt?" Draco asked.

"It feels good. Just go slow, very slow."

"Okay." Draco kept a slow rhythm until he could feel Ron begin to relax before he added a second finger. Ron's breathing began to get more hurried and impatient. He was beginning to arch his back again and moan more, "Easy there, we have to make sure that you don't get hurt, love"

"I think I'm okay." Ron was barely able to say.

"Okay" Draco removed his fingers, and his lips found Ron's. This kiss was the kiss right before they lost their virginity. Ron was nervous, but he lost himself in Draco's kiss. Draco positioned himself in front of Ron, and all Ron could feel was Draco's tip at his entrance, "Are you sure you're okay."

"Yeah, just go really slow."

"Okay" Draco slowly pushed the tip of his member into Ron. It was agony for Draco not to plunge right in. Ron was tight and the pressure was squeezing Draco, but he could see that Ron was feeling a ton of pressure, "Are you okay?"

"Don't move for a second" Ron was trying to breath. It was painful, "Okay"

Draco slid his head out and, in a few times, and each time he inched in a little deeper. Until towards the end, he pushed himself all the way in. Ron's knees clenched around his waist, "Ron, I'm sorry"

Draco started to pull out, but Ron stopped him, "Don't move"

"Okay" Draco forced himself to stay really still until he could feel Ron's muscles begin to relax as they adjusted to him. When he moved, he moved incredibly slow. The slow rhythm was good to start, but it was Ron who began getting impatient. He started to thrust his pelvis against Draco which caused the blond to moan. Draco quickened the pace, until they were both breathing heavily and moaning loudly. Ron wasn't sure who came first, but he was surprised when Draco pulled out to cum on his stomach. Falling on top of Ron, Draco struggled to catch his breath.

"That was beautiful, Draco" Ron smiled.

"It was wasn't it? Before we go back to the manor, I wanted you enjoy a first time with you." Draco smiled.

After that night, Draco was no longer afraid to go back to the manor. In fact, he wanted to get it over with. He delved into the planning of how they were going to get in and out. Before executing their plan, they brought it to Mad-Eye for his input. As a precaution, it was decided that Charlie and Harry would stay behind as a back up in case an extraction was needed. Harry wasn't pleased, but he learned well enough not to argue. However, in the past, Harry had been needed both times. This worried him. Though, he did argue, that a fourth person might make the mission more successful, so they brought in a fourth person. Mad-Eye promised that it would be someone that they trusted.

Unlike Mad-Eye who mistrusted everyone, Harry trusted Mad-Eye because Dumbledore did. Ron, Draco, and Severus were enjoying little Mione's company before the four the person arrived. Their plan was simple, it was a simple surveillance mission. If they found something, Charlie and Harry would come immediately with assistance before any fighting began. If they found nothing, then Harry would not be at any risk unnecessarily.

This idea was perfect until the fourth person arrived.

_(Again, thank you for your patience. I felt as nervous as Ron in this chapter about writing about a first time. Next chapter, we have another iconic character entering the story. This is one of my favorite characters in this series. I hope you enjoy their appearance.)_


	21. Chapter 21 I Am Sorry

Chapter 21

They had agreed to travel in the evening when it was difficult to see. Originally this seemed to be the best plan, but it only made Draco more nervous. The memories of this place no longer haunted him but remembering of what had happened made him worried of what could happen. No surprised when Neville Longbottom walked in through the doors of Grimmauld Place. The look on his face when he saw Severus and Draco made Harry slightly concerned at the success of their mission, but when Neville saw the level of comfort that Harry, and Ron had with the two Slytherins he looked less apprehensive. Ron was the one who welcomed him first as a friend, and it didn't take long for Harry too look pleased that he was here. There wasn't time for pleasantries though. Mad-Eye had enough time to include Neville in their plan. Now they were just inside the gates of the manor, and Draco had to remember to that Neville was a part of their team. Draco and Ron were adversaries during school, but both Severus and Draco made Neville's life miserable. The fact that they might have to count on him to save their lives was nerve wracking. Ron squeezed Draco's hand to reassure him.

Neville held up his index finger to his mouth to prevent them from speaking. He pulled out what looked like a seed from his pocket, and he planted it in the ground. Then he pulled out his wand and whispered an incantation. The plant grew until its vines covered the gate. Then the vines moved to cover the walls of the fence, "This should prevent any unintended intruders."

"What if we need to escape?" Draco whispered, "will it slow us down?"

"Give me your wands." Neville ordered. Ron handed Neville his wand without hesitation. Neville used a similar pod to wipe residue over it. Then he did the same to Severus and Draco's wands, "You should be able to escape anytime you need to know."

"_Revelio" _Severus whispered with his wand, "I think we will have to go into the manor. Draco, are you alright?"

"Let's go." Draco answered with more confidence than he felt. The manor was in ruins, but it was a perfect place to hide. He had a strong feeling that Goyle was hiding here. Although, he was perfectly ready for an ambush if there was one. Somehow the way that Neville was behaving gave him confidence.

"Do you know if there was a part of the manor that wasn't damaged?" Severus asked Draco. They were still whispering, but it didn't matter. If there were people in the building, they would have already heard them.

"Expelliarmus" Draco, Severus, and Ron's wands flew out of their hands. Neville used another bead to make himself disappear. Gregory caught all three of them. The next spell made them all panic, "_Divesto" _

Goyle used the same stripping spell that the Death Eaters used, and they were suddenly bound in ropes tied to chairs. The chairs were tipped back, and the three boys were spread eagle. This was becoming repetitive, but it worked. Draco called out first, "Stop, you don't have to do this."

"You don't sound like Draco, you sound like Potter" Goyle commented. A crash could be heard in another part of the house, "Stay here"

"Its not like we can move," Ron retorted, "What do we do now?"

"Severus, do you know any wandless magic that can get us out of this." Draco asked, but deliberately not looking at him. Severus was grateful for the respect. Before he could respond, he felt the ropes move as if they were sliding down his body. The ends of the ropes split and snaked back up his body.

"Severus, what is this?" Ron's rope was wrapped around his member, "Ah… no, this isn't right." Severus could feel himself being molested by the rope. He was horrified to be violated, but even worse in front of his companions. He willed himself not to make noise, but that brought tears to his eyes. They couldn't even contact Harry, and Neville was nowhere to be seen. The robes began to rub is most intimate place. He could hear Draco cry out in fear.

"Severus, what do we do?" Draco panicked. Severus had no answer for him, his own fear prevented speaking. Draco looked at the room they were in. They were barely in what was one his beautiful foyer. Now it was full of darkness and ash. The walls were burnt, and the portraits of his father and mother were ruined. He suddenly remembered that his portraits could see him. He began to panic more. The look of relief came when Neville came running down the stairs with what looked like twenty children ranging from very young to adolescent. Goyle apparated in front of them.

"You will not take them. I'll tell you where Potter is." Goyle begged Neville. Draco suddenly realized that Goyle didn't believe who they were, but Severus suddenly cried out in agony as he was nearly violated by his rope. The tip of the rope was barely inside him when Neville froze the three of them with his wand.

"You know where Potter is, Goyle?" Neville spoke, "Who are you protecting these children from?"

"From him," Goyle fell to his knees to beg Neville to release the children, "Please, don't hurt them. They have done nothing wrong."

"I know that. Which is why we are here to rescue you, you half-wit. Release Malfoy and the others before they never forgive you." Neville slapped Goyle across the face, "Then tell me what happened."

"Draco works for the Dark Lord, I know it. He has been captured several times and been released. He will take us to him." Goyle was trembling.

"How long have you been here?" Neville dropped down on one knee to Goyle's level, "Gregory, look at me."

"Only a few months, Blaise let himself get captured so we wouldn't be detected." Gregory sobbed. Neville pulled the man into his arms. With his wand, he released the three that were captured and dressed them with magic. Severus was shaking at what nearly happened.

"If they attack us, I will kill them first." Neville promised, "You are not alone anymore."

"Why are you holding me?" Gregory asked in confusion.

Neville answered with an amused look on his face, "You were crying. It's kind of what we do. When children cry, the adult in the room is supposed to hold them."

"I am not a child." Gregory stood up, and he turned to Draco, "Prove to me that you are Draco."

"Your name is Gregory Felix Goyle. Your parents have served the Dark Lord for many years, but they were originally Gryffindors. These are the children of the Death Eaters who were killed by the Dark Lord. You were in love with Pansy even more than Blaise was." Draco was the one who put his arms around his old friend this time, "I'm sorry that you had to go through this alone."

"I'm sorry about the ropes, but I've never killed anyone before." Gregory confessed.

Severus held out his hand to stop where the conversation was going, "We are not going to talk about it anymore. I will be angry if we continue talking about it."

"The real question is where are we going to put all these children?" Ron spoke. He also really didn't want to talk about what had just happened, "There are nearly twenty of them. How many of you are sixteen?"

Four of them raised their hands, a young girl answered, "I turn seventeen tomorrow. Is my sister dead?"

"Who's your sister?" Ron asked.

"Patience, is that you?" Draco asked, "You've grown so much, I hardly recognized you."

"My name is Patience Parkinson; Pansy was my sister." Patience's eyes suddenly lit up as she remembered something, "The baby, where is the baby?"

"The baby is safe, but you aren't. We need to leave now." Severus spoke quickly, "It won't take anyone long to figure out that people were here."

"Let's make our way to the gate. Gregory stays here with the majority of them. The four of use will apparate them out four at a time." Neville decided, and was already ushering the children out before they could protest, "We'll get them somewhere safe before we decide where we can put them."

Grimmauld place was crammed. It was a big house to begin with. The Blacks were considered wealthy people, but they still lived a normal size house that was designed to fit a family of four or five. Twenty children ranging in different sizes was the Blacks intended. With some rearranging, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny managed to turn all of the bedrooms into bunkrooms. Patience was relieved to see her niece. Harry saw the look on Severus's face, and it killed him to know that he couldn't ask what happened yet. First, everyone sat down for a meeting. The four older children were permitted to sit in.

Mad-Eye began by wishing everyone welcome, "These are hard times, and everyone in this room has lost someone to this war. Everyone, so that means we need to fight just as hard to win or there will be no freedom left."

"I think we need to figure out a way to safely move the children to a bigger place" Ron suggested, "We have meetings and regular information sessions. Some of the children are quite young."

"Who would have a place like that? We just pulled them out of Malfoy Manor. That place is like a beacon for Death Eaters." Neville commented, "In its current state, its not really habitable. Sorry, Malfoy."

"Don't be sorry for saying the truth, Longbottom" Draco commented, "We could bring to France."

Patience's eyes lit up, "My sister said that you own a home there."

"It's true, and so far the Dark Lord hasn't reached France, and the house is big enough." Draco looked hesitant, "It's not what you imagined it to be. The house is in a muggle neighborhood. It was meant to be a safehouse for us, but we never had a chance to use it."

"While you are there, you can't use magic." Draco explained, "Apparate to a local deserted area, before walking to the house."

"It's a sound idea," Charlie agreed, "Perhaps, Neville, Goyle, and I should lead that expedition."

"If it would be alright, I would prefer to stay here." Patience answered, "You three should go. The little ones will need you."

"They need you too," The boy responded, "We need you there too."

"Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea for Mione to go with them. Would that make you more comfortable? We are constantly fighting and its not a good place for a baby." Ron made the suggestion. Draco looked at Harry and Severus as if the baby was also theirs. They both agreed. Then it is settled.


	22. Chapter 22 I Will Protect You

Chapter 22

The return home that evening was quiet. All three of them refused to tell Harry what happened. Even Ron wouldn't answer. He and Draco simply returned to their room and closed the door. The look on Severus's face didn't dissuade Harry, it made him want to know more. In the past several nights, Severus had invited Harry into his room as a sort of a shaman that kept his nightmares away. Holding the younger man made him feel at ease. It wasn't a surprise when Harry followed him into the bedroom and closed the door behind him, "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. The point is that we were successful." Severus avoided Harry's eyes. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Harry heard Severus undress and his belt buckle fall to the floor. Then he heard the taps to the tub turn on, but he didn't hear Severus get in. Instead, he heard a man sobbing. Harry's heart couldn't take it anymore. Severus had his head hung low with one foot at on the edge of the tub as if he was just about ready to step in. His hand covered his face, and his shoulders were shuddering from his uncontrollable emotion. Harry put a hand on Severus's bare shoulder which made the older man jump into the tub and close the curtain.

"Severus," Harry started.

"Could you hand me the washcloth?" Severus asked trying to ignore what happened. Harry grabbed it off of the counter and reached his hand around the curtain to hand it to him. Severus tried to sit down in the tub, but hissed as the hot water touched his bottom, "Ow.."

"Severus, were you hurt?" Harry opened the curtain. Severus used his hands to cover his private places and bent his knees up. The tears started streaming down his face again. Harry looked Severus over, "Where were you hurt?"

The look on Severus's face darkened as he spread out his hands to cover more surface area. Harry's eyes widen as he understood, "Now that you know, could you turn away please."

"Is there anything I can get you for the wound? You have a salve, I remember." Harry asked.

Severus's eyes softened as he thought that Harry had a good idea, "It won't work until I am dry."

"I hope that you've realized by now that you can trust me, Severus." Harry said softly, taking the washcloth that was floating in the water. He washed Severus's back and arms like he had previously done when Severus went through something traumatic. When he was done, Harry held out a towel for Severus.

"I do trust you, Harry. I do" Severus put his head on Harry's shoulder after he wrapped the towel around his waist, "More than anyone that I've trusted before, Harry. I trust you."

"Where is the salve?" Harry asked. Severus pointed to a cabinet under the sink. Harry grabbed the vial and told Severus to lay on the bed. Severus just stared at him and tightened his grip on the towel.

"I…uh.. can.. do that myself" Severus stuttered, his face suddenly turned red. Harry handed Severus the vial and followed Severus into the bedroom. Severus sat on his bed with is back against the back board and bent his knees up. He tried to keep himself covered as he tried to apply the salve. He tried not to bend his knees all the way so he wouldn't put himself on full display in front of the younger man, "Could you turn away? This is difficult with the towel on."

"Oh right, "Harry turned around. Severus hissed as the salve touched the sensitive skin.

"It stings," Severus said, "Don't turn around I can do this."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Harry asked genuinely concerned.

"I'm not alright, Harry." Severus's eyes welled up in tears again, "Gregory had us stripped and bound to chairs, but the ropes were there to violate us. One of the ropes was inside me."

"Oh I…"Harry turned around to comfort Severus to find him arching his back with his bottom in the air trying to reach behind. Severus gasped when his eyes met Harry's. Quickly grabbing the towel to cover himself again.

"I said don't look." Severus buried his face in his hands. Harry took the vial out of his hand.

"Severus look at me." Harry spoke removing Severus's hands, "I'm going to help you put the salve on, "Lean back"

"No, don't look" Severus was more embarrassed than anything else. He already admitted to himself long ago that Harry was important to him. Severus was holding his towel down to try and prevent Harry from seeing all of him.

"Severus, let me help you." Harry said softly again. Severus reluctantly bent his knees up. He felt like his face was going to explode when Harry knelt between his legs. Harry took a small bit of salve on his finger and reached under the towel. He never lifted the towel once. Harry found Severus's most intimate place and realized that the area around the entrance was dry and probably raw. It's probably what was causing the most pain. Severus winced as Harry began to rub the salve into the sink. His hand were still over his towel covered member. He relaxed a bit as the salve went into the skin and made it soft again. Harry took some more salve and slipped his finger inside Severus.

"Ahh," Severus gasped.

"What's wrong does it hurt?" Harry looked concerned.

"No, it doesn't hurt." Severus did not what to tell Harry what it actually felt like.

"I think it should be okay now, may I look?" Harry asked. Severus thought his face was going to explode. He didn't even want to answer Harry in that moment. Harry lifted the towel slightly, but Severus pushed it right back down.

"I think it's good too." Severus grabbed a pillow off the bed and placed it on top of the towel. Harry suddenly realized why Severus was embarrassed, "Severus, did you think that it felt good?"

"Stop talking Harry" Severus covered his face again. Harry was a Gryffindor, and boldness was in their genetic coding. Severus jumped when he felt a hand on his member, but gasped when a finger touched his tip, "Ahh, Harry stop."

Harry stopped, and removed his hand. Severus almost cried in disappointment, "Did you really want me to stop?"

Severus couldn't answer, so Harry took that as a no and took him in his hand again. Harry began to stroke him up and down until some liquid dribbled out of the top. Before he could say anything, Severus felt his member enter something wet and warm. He threw his head back because it was so intense, "Harry, I can't."

"It's okay, you can let go" Harry said softly. Severus came in Harry's mouth, "Did you like that?"

"Harry," Severus breathed heavily. He sat up with the towel still around his waist and pulled Harry close to him. Severus held Harry close to him so that the younger man could hear his heart, "I don't want to lose you, Harry"

"You won't lose me." Harry promised.

"You can't promise that, but I promise to protect you until I can no longer do so." Severus breathed into Harry's hair. He lifted his chin up with his hand, and their lips met. Deeper and deeper, their kiss became. Severus laid down on the bed and Harry was on top of him, "Don't forget to breathe, Harry"

"I love you, Severus" Harry whispered. Severus's own hand snaked down to touch the waistband of Harry's pants. Harry pressed his own pelvis into Severus's. Severus could feel his desire. Severus's hands were calloused after so many years of war. The roughness felt incredible against Harry's skin. Severus's body began to react again, but he realized that he was basically naked. Harry was still completely dressed. Severus grabbed his wand.

"_Divesto" _Severus whispered. Harry gasped at the sudden breeze from being undressed quickly. The members touched instantly. Harry and Severus both buried themselves into each other's shoulders. The rubbing was intense. Harry had never felt anything like this before. It was as if he was learning to feel for the first time. Severus kept trying to push him closer. Then Harry reminded himself, that Severus had basically been violated.

Harry and Severus came together. Harry grabbed Severus's wand, and cried "_Evansco"_

Severus pulled the covers over their bodies, and closed his eyes for the evening.


	23. Chapter 23 I Love You

Chapter 23

When Severus woke up that morning, Harry was not in bed. He naturally assumed that the younger man was making breakfast like he often did in the morning. Harry was not in the kitchen. Severus went to open Harry's old bedroom, there was no one in there. He went into Harry's room and rummaged through his things. The invisibility cloak was gone. Severus, without hesitation, opened Ron and Draco's room. Draco was all the way inside Ron when the door open. They both blushed crimson. Draco pulled out, and Ron grabbed the comforter to cover their bodies, "Please knock next time."

Severus ignored them, "Harry is missing"

Ron didn't even care that he was naked anymore. He threw off the blanket and put on his clothes as fast as he could. Draco grabbed a pillow to cover the essentials and dressed quickly too, "Where have you looked?"

"His room, the bathroom, the kitchen" Severus spoke in a panicked voice, "He's not here."

"I'll check the grounds," Ron said walking out. Draco walked into the library, "Severus is right. He's not here."

"Ron, I found something." Draco called. Severus and Ron both ran into the library, "That book wasn't out before, and Harry doesn't usually read."

Severus grabbed the book and opened it. A note fell out. Severus read it to himself, and then he threw the note on the floor. Ron grabbed it quickly before handing it to Draco, "Severus wait, we don't even know where he went."

"I don't care. I have to get him back." Severus already had his cloak on and was walking out the front door. Ron ran in front of him to stop him. Severus almost threw Ron out of the way, but Draco threw a bound Severus's body. Ron had to take a breath of relief. He would have been no match for Severus if he intended to fight. Draco knelt down in front of their old teacher.

"I know you are worried. You are scared to death but acting like this will only put Harry in danger." Draco spoke softly, "I'm going to unbind you, but you cannot attack us. Blink if you understand."

When Severus was released, he walked back into the kitchen and sat down in a chair. He covered his face with his hands to prevent the younger men from seeing his tears. Ron and Draco looked at each other unsure of what to say. It was a while before Severus regained his composure. With his voice still somewhat broken he spoke, "Let's go to Grimmauld Place to see if he contacted anyone"

Draco and Ron agreed. Mad-Eye was furious when he heard the news. Neville, Charlie, and Gregory had already left with the kids early that morning. They couldn't think of anyone they could have contacted, but they didn't feel safe sending any messages out. If the Dark Lord found out that Harry was on his own, he would be even more vulnerable, "The real question is what do we do now?"

"Perhaps we should focus on freeing more captives. The more Death Eaters that we can pull from the Dark Lord, the better chance we have at winning this war." Draco commented.

"The trouble is that we are one man short, and our back up have now gone to France." Ron said.

"I don't think you quite understand how the Order works currently." Mad-Eye explained, "Most of the remaining members are working either solo or in small teams. George is available if we need him. Finnegan, Wood, Kingsley is doing his best in the Ministry. Everyone is working hard, and we've only touched a handful of those who are on standby."

"Why didn't we know this before?" Draco asked.

"Mad-Eye is trying to protect their identities. Any person who comes out of the woodwork to try and help Harry puts themselves at risk. They also have their own separate tasks to carry out."

"Then its possible that Harry can carry out more tasks on his own." Ron said hesitantly.

"It's possible," Mad-Eye agreed, "We feel helpless because we know him, but our freedom rests on his shoulders. Harry knows that better than anyone."

"Then what is our next plan." Ron asked.

"In the note that Goyle sent, in Harry's flat, he mentioned that Nott was captured." Draco said, "He's either turned, killed, or in hiding."

"Nott's parents were close to the Lestranges" Severus commented from memory, "It's possible that we could start there. If I remember, he was neither for nor against either cause. Why would he help Goyle?"

"The weren't helping Goyle." Draco spoke, looking down slightly, "They were helping Pansy. Pansy was the lead on freeing the children of the Death Eaters, but the only one she relied on was Blaise. Somehow, all of this happened."

"Pansy must have suffered a lot." Ron put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"She was the type of person who could make you believe that you were more than the killer that they wanted you to be. She helped us all keep our humanity. Now that she's gone, I don't know how Nott is going to react."

"Then its possible that he's loyal to the Dark Lord" Mad-Eye asked, "Is it worth the risk to rescue him if we lose numbers if he won't come?"

"Grief can drive a person to do many things, Alastor." Severus commented, "Anyways, regardless of what he may or may not be doing. We don't even know where he is."

"Could we look in that small house where you-know-who was before?" Ron suggested.

"I had the house destroyed to limit the number of places that Voldemort could return to." Mad-Eye responded. Our goal is to limit the number of supporters which means we need people who can get into places without being detected. He looked at Ron, "You and Harry have been training for this for years. Now, Harry has already left. That means we need to coordinate the front here."

"What is the plan?" Ginny came up behind them, "What has happened?"

"Harry is missing" Mad-Eye interrupted before Ron could dodge the comment, "Ron, I know you want to protect your sister, but she is one of the best."

"The real question is, how do we find a way to communicate with Nott?" Draco continued, "The manor is gone, we've destroyed the Dark Lord's childhood home. Where else could they go?"

Severus suddenly looked at Draco. When their eyes met, they both shuddered inside a little, "Is it possible?"

Ron finally understood what they were talking about. Mad-Eye was getting a little annoyed, but he trusted them, "Will you need help?"

"Possibly," Ron responded, "We got out of there with great difficulty. We can't get in with disguises this time. It would have to be an ambush, and I'm not sure we have the numbers."

"Then we can send a surveillance team first to find out how many they have. You didn't get a chance to look last time, did you?" Draco asked.

"It's been quite some time. Harry, Hermione, and I were just trying to get you two out safely. We were holding our breath the entire time. If they discovered us, it would have been over quickly." Ron admitted, "Thankfully we were successful."

"The prison from where you were captured" Mad-Eye realized what they were talking about, "It would be easier if someone was captured. Then we could have someone on the inside."

"That's not a good plan" Ginny argued, "If its not someone they consider of value, they will just kill the person."

"Then it should be me" Ron said, "If I were captured, they wouldn't kill me for a while. They would use me to get to Harry."

"You don't want to do that, Ron. Last time …" Draco couldn't even finish the sentence when he remembered how they met.

"This is for Harry, Draco. His success means that we can all have our freedom. I don't want to be…." Ron couldn't say it either, "This is our best shot."

"What this needs to look like is a capture. They will suspect something if Ron volunteers himself." Mad-Eye pointed out, "We need a plan."

A person stepped out from one of the bedrooms, "This is why I stayed behind. Don't worry, your mother went with the children."

"Did you hear about Harry, Neville?" Ron asked. Neville had clearly been listening to their conversation. Looking at Neville, no one would have ever thought that he was the nervous boy, but he had disappeared quickly when they had been captured. His strength shown from his experience.

"If you send me, I think I can get in undetected. I only need Harry's cloak." Neville said. Ron and Draco looked at each other and shook their heads, "Then, I agree with your previous plan."

"You don't care what happens to Ron?" Draco asks.

"Ron is my friend, he knows that I care, Malfoy." Neville said with a little sting in his voice, "I would give my life to protect him, but our freedom as wizards is at stake. Harry and Ron have taught us that we have to do whatever it takes to protect that. So yes, I agree with your previous plan."

"You can call me Draco" Draco tried.

"I'd rather not, Malfoy" Neville sneered a little, "We may be on the same team, but we are not friends."

It stung, but Draco wasn't surprised. It was hard to forgive someone who was a bully to you in the past. Even now, he could see the resentment in his eyes, but Neville was friends with Ron and Harry. Therefore, Draco was trying every way to make amends. A thought had crossed Draco's mind. Neville had called Goyle by his first name, and that meant that Neville was hiding something. Someone entered his mind, "Who's there?"

"Don't look at me, but I'm Neville. I'm sorry I can't really speak in front of the others. Harry made me promise not to reveal anything. I trust you, Draco" Neville said in his mind.

"When did you learn Occlumency?" Draco thought.

"Never mind that, listen carefully. The likelihood of Nott being in that prison is high, but he's been there for a long time now. Do not be surprised if he has turned, or if things go bad. Harry has someone inside who will help you." Neville ended the connection before Draco could meet his eyes.

"I think three of us should be enough to get into the Prison. If we are doing a simple reconnaissance mission. I think four would be too many to keep track of. If three of us go, and two were to get out. Ron would be able to stay behind." Mad-Eye suggested.

"Or on the opposite side if one went in. He could move around much easier. Ron is exceptionally good at that. When he's alone, Ron works much better when he's not worrying about his partners." Neville smiled a knowing smile.

"Again, you're putting Ron at risk." Draco argued.

"I agree" Ron spoke for the first time in a while, "with Neville."


	24. Chapter 24 Where are you?

Chapter 24

Ron, in the past, would have regretted his decision, but this time. He couldn't afford to. Mad-Eye had three invisibility cloaks, but they weren't nearly as perfect as Harry's. Still it was better than nothing. It wasn't difficult to dress as a Death Eater as well. Severus even used a glamor to apply a fake tattoo to his forearm. What he did notice was that the prison was not heavily guarded. That meant that there was not a valued prisoner here. It didn't mean that there wasn't a prisoner here. He could hear screaming from whoever was here. Sneaking around corners would get him captured much more quickly than he intended too. He was surprised at his own memory of the place. When they had rescued Severus and Draco, there were so many nerves that Ron could hardly breath. It was the adrenaline that pushed them through. The moment that they stepped through the door in Harry's flat, he could breathe again.

Ron peaked in through a window of one of the prison cells. One of the Death Eaters was raping a prisoner. That was where the screaming was coming from. Ron had to stop himself from bursting in there. He had to take a deep breath. His goal was to get captured. He didn't look to see who the prisoner was but based on his arms and legs it was a man. In truth, there were a lot less people than there had been previously. It wasn't until he turned the corner when he was ambushed. The moment that he was captured, Draco and Severus would know. His capture would bring a lot more Death Eaters to the prison.

A horrible sinking feeling hit his stomach when he realized what was about to happen. He was dragged into the same cell as the other prisoner who was being raped. Ron recognized the prisoner as Marcus Flint, the old Slytherin Quidditch captain. A look of pity washed across Ron's face as Marcus tried to turn his abused body away. Although he had prepared for what was going to happen, he felt sick when his clothes were stripped away. His arms were shackled to the wall and his legs were spread wide for everyone to see his private area. Ron closed his eyes and tried to pretend like it wasn't happening. He didn't want this, but Harry was what mattered. This violation could potentially save thousands of people.

"Well what do we have here?" The Death Eater pulled out of Marcus. "The Weasleys really are full redheads."

Ron was horrified. He struggled to close his legs; he struggled to move his arms. He nearly cried when the man touched his member. This must have been how Draco felt when he was tied to his family's tomb. He remembered when Rodolphus was touching Draco in an intimate place. Ron nearly screamed when the Death Eater put his finger inside Ron, "Oh, this isn't your first time. How convenient! Now then, if you tell us where Potter is. I will stop."

"I'm not going to tell you anything" Ron cried out.

"Very well, I am going to thoroughly enjoy myself, tonight." The Death Eater put his member at Ron's entrance. He was going to go in raw and barely prepped. Ron was terrified.

"Please no" Ron's cries were futile. Even Marcus Flint couldn't bare to watch.

"_Avada Kadavra" _A cry from the doorway hit the Death Eater right before he was about to change Ron's life forever. Draco came rushing into the prison with Neville behind him. As relieved as Ron was to not be violated, he couldn't help but be angry.

"What are you doing here? You're ruining the plan." Ron still had tears dripping down his eyes.

"I'm the only one who's allowed to touch you." Draco released Ron and used a spell to dress him.

"Marcus, can you stand?" Neville asked pulling the other prisoner down. Marcus reached down with his arms to cover his body. Neville used the same spell to dress Marcus, "I'm sorry we can't treat your wounds right now, but we need to go."

"I thought we were trying to find Nott" Ron asked.

"Theo is dead" Marcus said weakly, "He had taken a hit for me shortly after we arrived."

A knot formed in Draco's stomach, but there was no time for grief in that moment. They ran out of the prison cell. Neville had plants growing all along the walls that had the Death Eaters trapped in vines. Draco handed Ron his wand which he had found earlier.

"_Crucio" _Ron was suddenly writhing on the ground in pain. Draco disarmed whoever it was. Neville was ahead of them trying to get Marcus out of danger. He turned around to see Ron on the ground and Draco trying to protect him. Ron finally caught his breath and had just enough time and strength to throw Draco toward Neville who caught him. A flash of green light, and Ron's lifeless body was all that Draco could see as Neville dragged him out.

"NOOO" Draco cried sobbing, "I have to.. I have to get his body"

"We can't right now. What's the point if you get killed?" Neville was trying to drag Draco away and carry Marcus, "I can't carry you both. Draco, you need to run"

"It was all my fault. I got him killed." Draco repeated over and over. There was no way that he could apparate. Neville apparated with both of them to Grimmauld place. He was shaking has he walked through the door. His teeth were chattering. Severus was there to catch Marcus and lead him into a spare bathroom. Neville was taller than Ron, and his arms seemed stronger. He held Draco tightly.

"What happened?" Mad-Eye asked. Neville shook his head and put a finger to his lips to stop the older man from asking questions.

"There was no good way to go about this." Neville finally spoke. Ginny stood in the doorway and watched Draco. Her face was white as a ghost. Her tears were silent. The number of deaths was going to continue to grow. Severus walked out after healing Marcus's wounds. He gave him a dreamless sleep potion to give him some rest. He barely had time to catch Ginny before she collapsed.

"Nott is dead, according to Marcus" Severus told Mad-Eye, "I think that we were right. The prison should be our first attack. I'm wiling to bet that there are a lot more prisoners than just Marcus."

"I agree, but we can't storm the place, or we will lose a lot more than one boy." Mad-Eye, spoke.

"We should probably contact Arthur, and someone needs to notify the ones in France." Severus spoke, "Although, we don't really have the time to grieve, and its too dangerous to retrieve his body"

"So that mission was a fail," Neville stood up after Draco finally stopped shaking, "Now we need to do things my way."

Neville rolled out a piece of parchment and began drawing on it with his quill. He was beginning to draw a map of the prison. From where they had been, Neville drew the map accurately in less than an hour. Severus was watching to young man go through possible scenarios of what could happen, "We need someone who is agile and quick"

"That person needs to be me. Just don't tell my father," Ginny spoke, "Despite my appearance and my very older big brothers, I am the quickest at firing spells."

Neville looked at her. His instinct was to follow what would have been Ron's wishes, and protect his sister. Yet, he knew that she was smart and what she was capable of. In that past even Harry had acted like she was a princess that needed protecting, but she was in some ways smarter than they were, "I agree."

"I don't" Draco stood up, "Ron would not want you anywhere near this fight."

"Ron isn't here anymore" Ginny's eyes welled up, "I have to do something. I'm not a child. I'm only a year younger than any of you. For merlin's sake, I've been of age for a few years now."

"Actually, I need a day or two." Neville spoke quickly, "There's something I have to do."

"Who was the contact in the prison?" Draco thought in his head, hoping that Neville would receive it, but he made sure to focus on the map.

"It was Marcus" Neville answered, "I will be back tomorrow with help. I think I have a better idea, but I need one person's help."

Severus sat up that night thinking of Harry. He wasn't even here to know that Ron was dead. That last night when they were together, he wondered if Harry had intended for that to be a goodbye. Did he really think that they would have been protected if he weren't around? Severus would have loved to tell him that he was wrong. Having him here gave them strength to beat their enemies. Draco and Severus didn't want to return to the manor that night. In fact, after Draco was asleep, Severus went to Harry's flat.


	25. Chapter 25 I Am Not Your Enemy

Chapter 25

In the coming weeks, the dining room table at Grimmauld place became a mess. Maps and plans were laid out. Neville had returned with an old friend, George Weasley. He had moved in not long after Ron's death. News came in the muggle post about a mass death at the top of London tower. Hundreds of muggles laid fell from the height into the river. The muggles had no clue what happened, but Draco could see the tension in Severus's neck. It was the Dark Lord beginning his attack. That was the first attack. The second one hit Harrods, the shopping mall. The Dark Lord was becoming more bold. They barely managed to stop the attack on Buckingham Palace. The attacks were sporadic designed to separate the Order so they could not accumulate power in one place. It was becoming more difficult to hide the wizarding world from the muggles. People were afraid, and they should be.

The day after the attack on Buckingham Palace, a parcel arrived on the door of Grimmauld place. It was curious because owls were not supposed to locate Grimmauld Place unless they were sent by an Order member. They opened the parcel to discover a necklace which had been destroyed. Severus's eyes widened when he saw it. A small note was attached to the broken necklace. There was a number four written on it in the most recognizable writing, "Harry"

The owl disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Severus finally understood what Harry was doing, but the problem was on their side, they were running out of people. Neville and Mad-Eye were constantly in long debates. This was mostly because it was difficult for Mad-Eye to relinquish control over to someone so young as Neville, but the younger man was proving himself to be a strong leader and strategist. Severus had began trusting the younger generation long before.

"Out of all the members of the Order, how many of them played quidditch in school?" Neville asked Draco.

"Marcus, Wood, Charlie, George, I did, Ginny… a lot" Draco started counting off in his head, "Why"

"We are going to form an assault team lead by which do you prefer, Oliver Wood or Marcus Flint?" Neville asked Draco.

"Oliver Wood" Marcus said from behind, "He's better at it"

Neville pulled a coin out of his pocket and waved his wand around until it glowed, "He should be here shortly."

"Why do we need an assault team?" Draco asked, but knew the answer as he was asking.

"There will be more attacks on innocent people, if have a team that leads from the air and a team that leads from the ground, its possible that we will have less casualties."

"That makes sense." Draco answered, "Who will be on the ground team?"

"I'm still working that out. It will most likely be Severus leading the ground team. He has the most experience with infiltration. George will be here tomorrow with new equipment. We may not know where the attacks will be, but we will be more prepared to defend them."

"Everyone will have to learn to work together. This means that there will be no more last names. Everyone will now go by first names. Our lives are in each other's hands." Mad-Eye spoke, "I will stay behind to give orders."

"Harry is doing his part, and we need to do ours if we are to be there when he needs us. Too many people have died so far, and we will lose a lot more if we don't trust each other." Draco spoke.

"You certainly sound like Harry" Marcus commented again. The next day George and Oliver wood walked in through the door. Oliver brought with him eleven Firebolt brooms with him. Their division was set. Severus and Neville would lead two teams on the ground. Oliver and Marcus would coordinate teams in the air. Anyone who was too young was sent to France, where Arthur and Molly Weasley watched over them.

They were not prepared for the first attack. It was a Saturday and the British museum was full of people. Ginny came up with the idea to imperio the muggle police officers to coordinate an evacuation before the fighting began. She, Draco, and George, disillusioned themselves evacuate the muggles. The Death Eaters were wearing their dark robes and masks. Severus walked up to them as if he was alone, and then the attacking began. Neville moved quickly to move Severus out of the way before he was killed. The chased them back into a room filled with Devil's Snare. Neville could hear the screaming.

"They certainly didn't pay attention in school." Draco commented as the next wave of Death Eaters came at them. Draco pulled out something that Severus had given them before, "Cover your mouth and nose."

Neville and Draco used their cloaks to keep them from breathing as Draco threw the potion the Death Eaters. The love potion mad them turn on their own side, "We gotta go, Draco"

Ginny had a hand full tied up with the ropes that Gregory had. It seemed as if they were winning, but they were only using tricks. This gave the Death Eaters the advantage. If they weren't going to really fight, they would lose. Neville was hit first by the Cruciatus curse. Neville froze and wouldn't even dodge it before he was writhing on the ground in pain.

" _Avada Kadavra" The_ Death Eater fell quickly. Draco glared at the rest of them with his wand drawn, _"I_ don't care what it does to me. I will kill each and every one of you if you come near him."

The Death Eater's quickly backed off. Severus had finished fighting off the ones on his end. Draco helped Neville up while Ginny restored the museum to its original state. Neville was shaking when the returned. Draco tried to help him, but Neville brushed him off before going to the bathroom and closing the door. He could hear Neville vomiting into the toilet. Mad Eye waited for the report.

"This is not going to end well. We barely got through that." Severus said, "They weren't ready for a real fight."

"How did you win?" Mad-Eye asked.

"They learned that they aren't in school anymore." It was all Severus was going to say. George was never so relieved to see his sister. Her hands were shaking from watching Draco kill someone.

Draco knocked on the door after he heard the noises stop, "Neville, are you okay?"

There was no answer. Draco used the unlocking spell and opened the door. Neville was passed out on the floor of the bathroom covered in vomit. Draco cleaned up the mess quickly and helped Neville up. Finally, he gave up at trying to help him stand, so Draco picked Neville up and leaned his head against Draco's shoulder. It was a little awkward because Ron had been much stronger than Draco and Neville were tall. Despite the awkwardness, Draco carried Neville to one of the empty rooms.

Neville woke up that night with a nightmare. He was screaming in his bed. Draco ran in to see if he was hurt. Shaking his shoulders, a bit, Draco woke Neville up. Neville shot up out of bed with is wand pointed at Draco. The blond-haired man held up his hands to show that they were empty, "Neville, its me."

"Oh" Neville let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly suspicious, Neville asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Get back into bed. You'll catch cold like that, and then I'll answer." Draco turned away a little.

Neville looked down at his body to find that he was in fact naked. His face colored slightly and then he took a pillow off the bed to cover himself, "I'm covered. Why are you here?"

"You were having a nightmare. You were screaming." Draco explained.

"Well, I'm fine now. You can leave." Neville said coldly, "I meant what I said before. We aren't friends."

"Neville, I'm sorry that I was horrible to you in school. I really am. I know there isn't a lot that I can say to make you forgive me, but I do intend on being your friend." Draco said firmly.

Neville sighed and gave up. He walked back to his bed and climbed under the covers, "It's fine."

"Do you want to talk about your nightmares? It might help." Draco suggested.

"Not really, no. You can go. I'm okay." Neville said laying down and drawing the covers over his shoulders. Draco turned to walk out the door, "Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you" Neville paused, "For saving my life and carrying up to this room."

"Anytime" Draco left with a smile.

In the morning, Neville tried to avoid Draco. It was hard to be seen in that moment of weakness by someone he had considered up until recently an enemy, but Draco had saved his life and then took care of the aftermath. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he couldn't hate him anymore. Neville had grown in the past few years. His skills had surpassed many of the previous generation. He was smart and a strategist. He was actually much better Herbologist than Professor Sprout, but aside form Harry and Ron, he rarely trusted people. The kid who everyone bullied was now the adult who there would be a lot more deaths if he weren't there. Still he had his own weaknesses. One of them was showing weakness. He had never found it easy to work in a team which is why he was terrible at sports, but now he had to be mindful of others. Marcus Flint, Gregory Goyle, and now Draco Malfoy were on the list of Slytherins who he couldn't hate anymore. This made him question about his judgement. He just had to focus. Harry was out there somewhere finding a way to beat this monster. His two best friends were gone, but right now they all just needed to focus.


	26. Chapter 26 Family is Everything

Chapter 26

"Do you find it easier to communicate this way?" Draco thought in his head. He was doing a surveillance mission in muggle London.

"Yes, I told you once before that I trust you, Draco" Neville answered, "Don't mind what happened before. I get cranky when I take a hit."

When the returned to Grimmauld Place, there was silence between the two. If they were not talking about missions and their plans, they rarely spoke. Severus took over making breakfast that morning when they received word from Harry. He didn't write anything again this time, but a symbol came floating down towards them. Neville's face turned white again.

"What's wrong" Draco asked out loud, "Where is that symbol from?"

"St. Mungo's" Mad-Eye answered, "It's a bold move. It doesn't make sense."

"To force someone's hand." Severus answered honestly. It wasn't really his place to answer.

"St. Mungo's is a Wizarding Hospital. The Dark Lord has mostly been attacking muggles recently. I guess in a wizarding place, we don't have to worry about hiding it from muggles."

"It's late, I'll go and check things out." Neville spoke, "I'll be back. I promise not to move forward with anything until we have a plan. Alastor can come up with one while you wait."

"Wait Neville, let me come with you." Draco called out, "We shouldn't be alone"

Neville's first instinct was to reject the offer, but Draco wasn't wrong, "Alright, lets go, but I think you need a disguise."

Neville tapped his wand on Draco's shoulder, and his hair grew darker and his face shape changed. Although if someone were to look closely, they could still see Draco's features. Neville and Draco walked along the street until they came to haunted looking red brick department store called Purge and Dowse. Ltd. When they walked in, it turned into the lobby of St. Mungo's. Neville took the stairs to the fourth floor instead of the elevator. The door was labelled Psychiatric Care Wing. Draco simply followed Neville into the wing where a man and a woman who looked like Neville were walking around. They hardly seemed to notice Neville at all, "Are those your parents?"

"Yes, they are" Neville said refusing to say more, but he entered Draco's thoughts, "Don't tell anyone please."

"What happened?" Draco thought.

Neville's face was stone cold when he answered the question with his thoughts, "Bellatrix Lestrange tortured them with the Cruciatus Curse until they lost their minds."

"I'm sorry, my aunt is horrible. Ron blew her up." Draco responded. Neville's eyes widened and then softened. Draco asked out loud, "Are you going to stay here for a few days?"

Neville nodded. When a healer walked past them, Neville put his arm around Draco and smiled flirtatiously at him. Draco tried to smile back, but it was awkward. His height made him feel different. Then Draco nearly jumped when Neville's arm casually slipped around Draco's waist. He could see a Healer blush as she looked away from them. Neville's thoughts interrupted Draco's, "I know this is uncomfortable and strange. Just bear with it for now"

"It's alright," Draco thought back, "Do you communicate with everyone like this?"

"Normally, I can talk to them in person," Neville admitted, "Aside from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I've never talked about my parents. They only know because they met them when Arthur was injured."

Neville closed his mind when he didn't want to talk anymore. Draco understood that there were somethings that he wanted to keep private. If he had grown up with the Gryffindors, the last thing he wanted to talk about was his family. It was his worst regret that he couldn't have stood up to them from the beginning, but his parents would have probably been killed that much sooner. All of this fighting needed to stop, and Draco felt partially responsible for it.

Anger and resentment were the underlying causes for Draco's animosity towards the Gryffindors. Gregory knew more than anyone that what he hated wasn't the actual people, but their camaraderie. Vincent was always with Gregory and Draco, but they both knew that Vincent actually believed in their causes. Still a loose end was loose end when the Malfoys began to turn towards the end. The Dark Lord began killing anyone connected to them. Neville said that he wasn't Draco's friend, but from the way he was acting, Draco had a feeling that he was arguing with himself. Draco had long considered himself Neville's friend, and he would die first before he allowed anything to happen to Neville's parents. Again the guilt came from realizing that the person responsible for their condition was also, his family. His family, and him included had hurt a lot of people.

Now that he decided for himself which side he was on, he hoped that he could wipe some of that away. In any case, he was sick and tired of losing the people he cared about. Neville and Draco stayed in a guest room at St. Mungo's for nearly a week. There was no sign of attack yet, but Neville's tension grew and grew each day. They had almost decided to leave when someone unusual walked into their ward. The Healer interrupted them, but the intruder killed the Healer. Draco grabbed two sleeping potions, and Neville poured them into his parents' mouths. Neville whispered a silent apology to his parents as he hid them in a closet. The Dreamless sleep should by them enough time before they started to wander around. Neville and Draco cast the disillusioned spell on themselves and cut all the lights in the ward.

"Can you see who it is?" Draco entered Neville's thoughts.

"No, not yet" Neville answered, "but I think he killed another Healer."

"I think there's only one." Draco thought, but paused, "it doesn't mean we should rush him."

"Lockhart just died." Neville saw a body fall to the ground.

"Who?"

"He was the DADA teacher during our second year. The girls all fancied him, but he fancied Harry." Neville commented, "Well it was probably better that way for him."

"Don't say that. We should wish for the best in people." Draco thought back.

"Harry must have really rubbed off on you." Neville responded. The silent interaction between Neville and Draco was intimate. It was a safe place that both of them could let their guard down. He didn't want to admit it, but Neville had long since considered Draco his friend too. When whoever it was peaked into their room, Neville and Draco crouched down to avoid being seen. Draco's eyes widened when he saw who it was. It was Theodore Nott, and then another man who Draco had recognized from when he was young approached, "Did you find them?"

"No, they must have escaped. They can disapparated from into the lobby, but not beyond. We can catch them there." Nott said.

"Block the entrance to the hospital. Do not let anyone enter or leave. Kill all that are unnecessary." The other man ordered. Nott only nodded before they both disapparated. Neville and Draco let out a sigh of relief when they left, but Neville was fumbling around in his robes for the coin. Draco crossed the room and reached into Neville's pocket and pulled it out.

"Thanks" Neville muttered slightly embarrassed. Neville contacted Mad-Eye, and then stood up, "Let's go."

"We should ward the place first do you have more of that plant that only lets your me in?" Draco asked, not bothering with Occlumency this time. Neville pulled out a pod, and had it grow over the door. He covered their wands with the pulp, and they disapparated to the front. To try and avoid detection, he and Draco hid behind a wall. Draco conjured a mirror to help them see around the corner. Nott and the other Death Eater were faced off with the St. Mungo's security. There were at least ten dead bodies on the ground, but they were outnumbered. After that they left, Neville and Draco ran back up to the 4th floor and freed Neville's parents, "What do you want to do now?"

"We have to move them." Neville said calmly, but his face fell slightly, "I don't really know where we can move them to."

"We can take them to France tonight, Neville. I know they have their hands full with all those kids, but I don't really have another option." Draco offered.

"Thank you," Neville didn't know what else to say.

Draco and Neville apparated both his parents to Draco's home in France. Mrs. Weasley threw her arms around Draco, tears flowing from her eyes. Charlie had to look away too in order to hide his own emotions. Draco's own tears mimicked hers, "Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry I couldn't protect him."

"Don't be sorry, he loved you. You will always be a part of our family, Draco." Mrs. Weasley collected herself, "Now, what would you like to eat?"

"Oh, that's alright. We brought Neville's parents. St. Mungo's was attacked, and we believe that they are being targeted." Draco answered honestly. Despite his best intentions, Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let them leave without a meal.

Neville looked around at the beautiful French villa where his parents would be staying, "This is your house?"

"Yeah, we never really used it because Father and Mother were so busy." Draco answered, "But, it safe and that's what matters."

"Well, are you staying the night" Gregory walked in after just putting the younger children down to sleep.

"No, but is she awake? I'd like to see her." Draco asked. Neville smiled a gentle smile for the first time in a while. Gregory led them up the nursery where little Mione Zabini was wailing her head off in her crib. Draco couldn't help but rush over to pick her up. She curled up in Draco's arms and fell asleep instantly, "Ron and I wanted to adopt her, but we would have probably had to fight off Harry and Severus for her."

"You can adopt her if you want. Take a claim on her before them, she clearly loves you." Gregory smiled.

"Perhaps after the war," Draco said slightly wistfully, "I want there to be peace first."

"You could adopt her first, and then this house would also be hers. Talk to Kingsley Shaklebolt, he can help push it through." Mrs. Weasley interrupted, "Add her to the Malfoy registry."

"If you want, I could go with you." Neville offered, "You are a Father now, Draco. You have an even more compelling reason to survive."


	27. Chapter 27 I Miss You

Chapter 27

Neville and Draco did not stay in France long. In fact, that evening, they apparated back to Grimmauld place to give their report. They had hoped by taking Neville's parents from St. Mungo's that they would have removed the hospital from the Dark Lord's radar. For now, their plan succeeded. Draco was nervous when he returned, but not because of what had transpired in France. He was nervous about approaching Severus about his decision. His eyes met Neville's before he sent, "Don't talk about what happened in France please."

Neville didn't respond but gave a small nod to indicate that he understood. Mad-Eye was furious with for not telling them that the situation was under control. They were on their way to storm St. Mungo's when they got their message. Draco suddenly remembered, "We saw Nott."

"What?" Severus and Mad-Eye answered at ones. Severus went first, "I thought that Marcus told us that he was dead."

"Go ask him." Mad-Eye told Draco. Neville followed his new companion up to Marcus's room. Giving him respect, Draco knocked on the door. They heard some shuffling and a belt buckle. Neville and Draco looked at each other with a knowing smile on their faces. They knocked again.

"One second," He called out. Neville wanted to laugh, but Draco stopped him with a look. Marcus opened the door to allow his rescuers in, "What's wrong? How did everything go in the hospital?"

It was late in the evening and the bed was ruffled, but he covers were still drawn. Marcus saw where their eyes went and blushed bright red before straightening everything. Neville went first, "We saw Nott in the hospital."

"He's alive? That's not possible." Marcus said, "I saw him on the ground bleeding. There's no way anyone could have survived a wound like that."

"Was he alone?" Draco asked. He remembered an incident in their six year when Harry sliced open Draco's chest with a spell from Severus's old potions book, "That happened to me before. Severus healed me instantly."

Neville's eyes widened again, but a look from Draco told him not to ask about it. He didn't want to ruin Neville's image of Harry. Harry was also Draco's friend now, and it wouldn't do anyone good to remember memories like that from school. Draco, himself, wasn't exactly a saint either. He remembered that it was his fault that Severus had to kill Dumbledore. Marcus wrapped his arms around his torso when he spoke, "He was left alone because I was captured in that same incident."

"We won't know what's going on until we talk to him." Draco said.

"I also heard them use the killing spell after I was dragged away and…"Marcus turned away to hide the shame on his face.

"Hey…." Draco started, "You're safe, and that's what matters, Cap"

"I haven't been your captain for a long time." Marcus smiled.

"That doesn't change the fact that we saw him in the hospital," Neville answered, "You don't suppose he was playing two sides of the coin, do you?"

"I don't know, honestly." Marcus answered, "It's possible I suppose. We won't really know until we speak to him."

"You want to go?" Draco asked, "You don't have to. Actually, we don't even know where he went. He disappeared shortly after he left St. Mungo's."

"He will most likely be there during the next attack." Neville said in a tone that suggested their best option in that moment was to wait. Draco waited until they left Marcus's room. He thought about Neville's parents living in the hospital all this time. He opened his mouth and the closed it when he got nervous again. Neville noticed though, "What?"

"Come in here" Draco grabbed Neville by the arm and pulled him into an empty room, "Don't look at me like that. This is not what you think. I just wanted to ask you."

"You could have used Occlumency." Neville said.

"No, I want to talk to you in person because I think its silly that we can't talk in person, but we can talk with our thoughts." Draco answered firmly.

Neville sighed, "Alright, what is it? I have no interest in being a replacement for Ron."

"I wasn't even thinking that." Draco responded.

"You brought it up first." Neville answered, "I've opened up to you a little, but I don't want you to get any ideas."

"Any ideas? Ron has barely passed, and what he was is irrelevant to what I was going to ask. " Draco asked, "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Furthermore, you are you and Ron is Ron. So don't compare yourself to someone else."

Neville blushed a little at the comment. He quickly changed the subject, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Draco silenced the room with a spell to avoid eavesdroppers, "Have your parents been in St. Mungo's this entire time?"

"Yes," Neville turned his head away, "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Why not? Your parents are heroes. They stood up to my aunt and survived. My relatives are horrible at best, and they've hurt a lot of people. It made me sick to know it was she who hurt your family to this extent." Draco looked down, his hands were in fists as he spoke.

"Don't worry about it. You said it before, you are you regardless of who your family is or has done. I'm not angry with you because someone is related to you. Your other Aunt Andromeda has been fantastic." Neville pointed out.

"Thanks, but I was going to say. After all of this is over, you don't have to bring them back. They can stay in France, it's a beautiful place. You can or I can hire a healer to watch over them. They would have a much better life." Draco offered.

Neville's eyes widened. This was Draco Malfoy, his enemy from school. He had stolen his Remembrall during their first year. He called him horrible names, and now he wanted to help Neville in a way that he could never repay, "I don't think I ca…"  
"Don't answer now, let's win the war first. I know its sudden, but I won't change my mind. You and I are friends."

Draco walked out of the room leaving Neville stunned. He had gone on the first mission hating it. He wanted nothing to do with Draco, and he was right. It was because Draco was related to Bellatrix and still considered her family. I guess he wasn't wrong. Bellatrix had nothing to do with Draco. He spent so long protecting his family by keeping their existence a secret, but he evens surprised himself when he revealed his parents to Draco. It seems so surreal, that they were now living in Draco's villa in France. It really was a beautiful home, and Draco offered it to be his parents' home. Neville stood there staring at the empty doorway where Draco was standing a few minutes ago, but reality was sometimes colder than ice. It was probably just Draco's personality. He could see Ron's influence in him. Why did Ron have to die? Neville walked out and followed an unfamiliar sound.

Neville walked past Draco's room, and that was when he heard it. The sobbing, of course Draco was missing Ron. This was the first time that they had talked about him since his passing. He wasn't sure what he should do. Was Draco the type of person who needed to be alone to sort out his feelings or was he the type that needed someone but was afraid to ask. That day when they returned, Neville was shocked at himself when he held Draco. If only they he could have stopped Draco from storming the prison that day. Ron would have been horribly violated, but he might have been alive. Neville was a Gryffindor, why was he so hesitant? He should be bold and brave.

Neville opened Draco's door and saw what he had expected to see. Draco's face was buried into a pillow on the bed, "Hey…"

Draco froze, "Don't look at my face, please."

"I can't" Neville said honestly. He walked over to sit on the bed, "Talk to me. I'll listen."

Draco sat up, and spoke honestly, "I don't want to talk about Ron. I'd like to keep those memories private to me, and I'm not going to be dishonest by denying that we have become friends recently. I don't want to compare your friendship to his. Because our friendship is different from his. I always felt like he was there to protect me, and even when he died. He died protecting me."

"It hurts like hell that he isn't here. You have the ability to protect people, I think the past few times, it has been you who has protected me." Neville said honestly, "Who knows what we will be like in the future. I don't think that having another person care about you is such a bad thing." Neville leaned over and gave Draco a peck on the lips before walking out of the room.

The last thought that Draco had in his head was, "Its too soon." But a smile crept up on his face before he fell asleep, "or is it?"


	28. Chapter 28 I Need You

Chapter 28

Weeks had passed since Harry's disappearance, and they were sure that the clues they had received were from Harry. Each time the clues allowed them to foil one of Harry's plans. Severus looked at the date and remembered that it was the last day of school. A few more weeks passed, and Severus looked, it was Harry's birthday. On the days, that Severus felt particularly alone, he slept in Harry's old flat feeling more of his presence there. Their order was getting stronger and better at surviving and succeeding in their missions and fights. Draco and Severus had not been back to the manor since Harry's disappearance. They felt that the sooner this war was over, they could all return. That night was different, Severus wanted to sleep in the manor and in the bed where Harry had almost made love to him. He walked into the bathroom where Harry used to barge in on him repeatedly. He felt almost silly at how embarrassed he was from Harry's presence. He felt the bed where they slept. The bedding and sheets had not been changed since that night. He laid down on the pillow and wondered if it still smelled like him. It did.

Severus's eyes welled up with the memories of that night. He walked to his closet and pulled out his pensieve. Extracting the memory from that night, Severus had been violated. He laughed as he struggled to put ointment in a place where he knew, he should have just trusted Harry to do it. Harry's back was turned as he watched at how exposed he was. Heat rushed to Severus's cheeks. Harry had slipped his hand under the towel to touch him in a place where no one had touched before. He could feel his body reacting. Continuing to watch, he didn't notice that there was another presence in the pensieve with him.

"That is also one of my favorite memories" Harry spoke. Severus jumped out of his pensieve to stare into the green eyes that he missed the most.

"Harry" Severus opened his mouth in shock. Emotion filled his heart, he turned away so Harry would not see his tears. Anger at having been abandoned, relief that he was back, and desire to be held again by the younger man. He finally managed to ask, "Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Severus." Harry slipped his arms around his waist and hugged Severus from the back, "I've missed you too, love"

Severus didn't know if this was real or a dream, but this moment needed to last a little longer. He turned around and pressed his lips to the younger man's. Wrapping his arms around the person he wanted more than anyone, he pressed his lower pelvis against Harry's own erection. Harry pushed him down on to the bed, and slowly began to undress him. When they were both naked, Severus wanted to be embarrassed, but he feared that if he didn't embrace this moment then it would be gone. He was embarrassed when their bare erections touched. Harry reached down and touched him. Severus threw his head back and arched up to meet his touch.

Harry slid down his stomach until Severus felt something wet and warm surrounding his member. He closed his eyes as the feeling intensive. It was more than he could handle, but Severus didn't want to lose the connection. Harry licked him, sucked on him, and engulfed him. When Harry stopped, Severus looked up missing the warmth. Harry pushed Severus's knees up so that he was completely exposed to the younger man. On instinct, Severus reached down to cover himself, but Harry stopped him.

"Please Severus, let me love you." Harry whispered softly and he reached down and rubbed that area where Severus kept all of his secrets. Severus felt such intensity that he couldn't take it. Harry took that opportunity to apply a little pressure. Severus could feel his thin finger slide in. There was discomfort, but it did not last long. He relaxed his body, and then the intrusion felt incredible. Harry added a second finger. This time there was more pain. Severus held his breath, but Harry reached up to kiss him. This helped him relax even more. Harry's other hand was on Severus's hard member. Whatever discomfort Severus was feeling from being stretched disappeared, and Harry removed his fingers.

He stared at Severus with lustful eyes, but it was Severus who responded first, "I love you, Harry"

Harry kissed Severus and entered him slowly. Inch by inch, Severus felt searing pain, but he wouldn't allow Harry to pull out, "Are you sure, love?"

"Don't move, let me feel you." Severus cried out. There were tears down his face, "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Harry made love to Severus several times that night, and in the morning, he was gone. Somehow Severus expected it. He couldn't even think. The pain in his heart hurt so much. Last night, he could have asked Harry anything, but instead he wanted to see him and feel him so much. Severus allowed Harry to make love with him, to take his first time in the forty-five years of his life, and then leave in the morning. How could he do something like that to him? After telling him that he loved him repeatedly. He knew he was being selfish, and the burden that Harry had to bear was excruciating. Watching people die was hard, but for Harry, he felt responsible. Severus felt incredible guilt that he couldn't protect Harry, and such helplessness that Harry wouldn't let him help him.

Severus returned to Grimmauld Place that day to find the place a mess. There were papers and maps everywhere. Every public building in London was spread out across the floor. It was clear that they were trying to figure out where to go next. Draco seemed relieved to see Severus, "Where were you? I was beginning to worry."

"I went to go get a change of clothes." Severus said, but Draco looked at him funny. Severus looked down. He was still wearing the same clothes. Severus blushed a little, and Draco let it go.

Draco must have realized what day it was, and sensed where Severus went, "Hey, he'll come back to us. We just need to do our part."

Severus nodded, "Let's get to work."

Oliver and Marcus had assembled what looked like a makeshift quidditch team, except there were only four instead of seven. They were running drills. George was there with a special earpieces for each of them to communicate with each other. There was beginning to have some organization. Marcus asked, "Where do you think the next target is?"

"It would be hard for the Dark Lord to keep attacking muggle places, but the wizarding places that attract the most attention is St. Mungo's where the security there is intense." Draco started.

"The ministry, but he has too many supporters and enemies in one spot. It would be a blood bath for no reason. No, he's going to go somewhere where he thinks he has the most advantage." Neville continued.

"So far, we've managed to defend the places that he's attacked. We haven't been able to launch a successful attack on our own. In the past we've stormed the prison with not enough people, but I was thinking perhaps we can try again." Mad-Eye suggested, "If we attack the one place where we know he has control over, he will pull back his attacks on other places, especially if we go in strong."

"It's not bad," Severus looked at it, "however, the Dark Lord has been doing this much longer than we have. We could lose a lot of numbers."

"Severus, this is a war. The differences are that we are all in this because we are friends. We would lay down our lives to keep each other safe. The Death Eaters fight because they are afraid. No one supports the Dark Lord because they care about him." Draco pointed out, "So far, we've suffered minimal casualties comparatively, but our casualties hit us harder. We won't get very far if we aren't a little more aggressive."

"Draco's right, but we need to run through this a few times. We might find a few more prisoners that we didn't know were there." Marcus spoke, "I know that I wasn't the only one in those cells."

"Let's practice the shrinking and enlarging spells so we can get the brooms in there easily." Oliver ordered. Neville spent several days working on his inventory of magical plants. They were almost ready. The night before they were assembled, Draco walked into Neville's room after everyone had gone to bed. Neville sat up and the comforter fell revealing his bare chest. He clutched the blanket around his waist a little tighter.

"Are you nervous?" Neville asked. He patted a spot on the bed, "Just don't lift up the covers."

"Okay," Draco sat down next to his new best friend, "Do you think…"

"Do you want to see if you can find his body?" Neville asked, "I can't promise you anything, but I can try to give you the chance to look."

"Thank you," Draco stood up to leave, he didn't want to look at Neville when he spoke his next words, "I'm not ready, yet."

"Okay," Neville answered already predicting the answer.

"I might be sooner rather than later. Thank you for being there." Draco answered with a small smile on his face.

"Let's finish this war first, and then we can figure out what we want." Neville said, "Let's focus on keeping our friends alive."

"Thanks." Draco said before leaving the room.


	29. Chapter 29 A Battle To Be Won

Chapter 29

Morning could not have come sooner, Draco was ready. He had to convince both Severus and Neville that he was okay to do this. Draco walked downstairs and Grimmauld Place was packed. It was full, there must have been a hundred people in the living room. Gregory and Charlie came back from France. Mr. Weasley had switched places. Charlie and Oliver Wood had been running drills since early in the morning. Charlie gave their team an extra flyer. Bill Weasley and Remus were there as well as Draco's cousin Tonks and his Aunt Andromeda. She spotted him first, "Draco,"

"Hello," Draco said awkwardly. It was nice that to know that not all of his relatives were horrible. His Aunt threw her arms around him. Draco froze, unsure of what to do, "It's very nice to meet you too."

"Mum, you're scaring him." Tonks sent him an apologetic look.

"It's alright. You look like my mother" Draco said.

Andromeda smiled, "She and I looked like our father, and Bella was a good mix. I'm sorry you've had such a rough time, but I would like to consider you family if that's alright with you."

"Let's win the war first." Draco smiled, "We should divert all of our attention to making sure that Harry succeeds."

"I agree" Tonks replied.

"Gran," Neville called out as he ran to hug the person who had raised him, "I didn't realize you were coming."

"I'm not staying Neville. I am going to France to help your Mother and Father. "His Grandmother smiled, "I wanted to see you before I left."

Draco walked over to Neville and his grandmother to give her the address, "Mrs. Weasley said that they've used a charm so that they can communicate with the locals. You should be able to relax, Mrs. Longbottom."

"Thank you," Neville's Grandmother seemed wary of Draco for some reason, "It seems strange for you to exert so much energy into helping us."

Draco blushed a little, "I only want to do what's right. What's wrong with being a side where there are people who actually care about each other?"

"Nothing at all" Neville interrupted, "Draco has made sure many of the ones who can't fight are safe."

"You call him by his first name?" Neville's Grandmother asked, "I thought you had trouble with him at school."

Draco exhaled, but found his confidence and spoke to Neville's Grandmother honestly. Neville wanted to stop him, but Draco shook his head. If there were doubts about him, he wanted to address them, "Mrs. Longbottom, I was a right prat in school. I was awful to Neville. I called him names, I teased him, I did everything that I could to make him feel worthless. I am not a child anymore; I cannot do anything about my behavior in my past except apologize for it. However, I am not that person anymore. I am here to make sure that our freedom isn't taken away, and to assume some of the responsibility of the damage that my family has caused. So, all of the sins that my family committed. I'll bear them all."

"I think he sounds more like me, then my sisters." His Aunt came to his rescue, "We, both, can try to undo some of the damage that my sisters have caused."

Neville's Grandmother put his arms around Draco and whispered in his ear, "Are you in love with my grandson?"

"I don't know" Draco answered honestly. Neville's Grandmother nodded. She left shortly after that.

The other Weasley twin walked into the room with ears for everyone. They were squishy awkward things, but once they were inside, they fit perfectly. Draco couldn't tell the difference between his own ears and the ones they gave him. George, the one that Draco recognized, said, "Let's test them. Neville go upstairs."

"Draco, when Neville leaves the room ask him a question. When he responds, we will all be able to hear." George explained. Neville left the room and waited a couple of minutes before Draco started speaking.

"Do you normally wear boxers or briefs?" Draco asked with a smirk on his face.

"I thought you didn't normally wear underwear, Draco." Neville responded. If only he could have seen Draco's face when he answered. His wishes were answered quickly, Draco's face was still bright red when he returned to the room. Neville whispered to his friend, "Next time, ask a normal question, love."

Their equipment was set. Mad-Eye was placed in charge of the entire operation. The first team was Draco and Neville bringing in Severus as a prisoner. Draco and Neville disguised themselves as Death Eaters and were expected to bring Severus in as a prisoner. The three of them walked up into Neville's bedroom. Neville asked, "Do you want to take off your clothes or do you want us to use a spell?"

"I'm sorry there isn't really a good option" Draco said with real sympathy on his face.

"Let's do it in the cell. It's probably darker in there so we don't have to parade him down the all." Neville suggested.

"None of the prisoners are brought in like that from what I remembered." Severus said shuddering at the memory, "Just used the spell. We don't want to waste more time then we have to."

Draco pointed his wand at Severus's body "_Divesto"_

Severus's face blushed red and reached down with his hands to cover himself, "Don't look anywhere vital, please."

Draco and Neville tried hard to look only at his face. Neville spoke first, "I'm sorry Severus, you will just have to bear with it. It won't be for long."

Neville bound Severus's arms and legs, and they both apparated to the Prison. Draco followed right after them. Severus remembered the previous time when he was rescued by Ron and Harry and closed his eyes. He tried to block out what was happening. Neville and Draco brought Severus into a cell. There was one other prisoner, but they paid him no attention. They hung Severus up with the shackles and spread his legs. Severus's eyes begged them not to look at his body. As they turned to leave the room, Neville's eyes widened when they saw who the other prisoner was. Draco asked Neville through Occlumency, "Do you know him?"

"Yeah he was in Gryffindor, used to worship Harry" Neville responded, "His name is Colin Creevy."

"He looks like he's been there for a while." Draco commented, "He looks like he won't make it much longer."

Neville looked at the poor boy who's arms and legs looked so worn out. The life was basically drained from his eyes, "We'll come back for him. We're busting everyone out. Draco and Neville stood on either side of the door to avoid being in the line of sight if someone were to walk in. Colin's eyes widened when he saw them. Neville held up a finger to his lips to make sure that he stayed quiet. Draco began pulling off his cloak. Several times a Death Eater walked past the window and peeked though. Severus struggled against the chains, but it was useless.

"That was once, we need to wait for her to stop." Neville spoke under his breath.

Tonks was disguised as the Death Eater making her rounds. Each time she checked in on them meant how many prisoners she found. Bill and Remus were in another cell with Gregory as the prisoner. Tonks walked around four more times. Excluding Colin, there were five prisoners here. They heard a large blast from the front gates. From their plan, they were not to move until the majority of the death eaters left. Charlie was partnered with Tonks in her mission. Sending anyone in alone would have been suicide. When the floor was mostly cleared, Charlie and Tonks knocked out the remaining Death Eaters. Neville and Draco freed Severus. Draco transfigured his cloak into robes and handed them to Severus. Draco also handed him his wand. Neville freed Colin who tried to curl up to cover his body. Neville transfigured his own cloak into robes and helped Colin dress.

"Isn't that Malfoy?" Colin asked quietly.

"Yeah, he's on our side." Neville explained, "We can't leave yet until they've broken through the gate"

"It sounds like they are struggling out there. One of the Weasley twins got hit pretty hard." Draco explained. Neville shook his head to tell Draco to stop talking about the battle in front of Colin who was in tears.

"We can't think about that now. Your aunt will worry about the injuries. We need to focus." Neville spoke calmly.

"I think they need help." Severus said getting ready to open the door. Tonks heard their conversation and stopped them. Her eyes told them to stay put. A few minutes later, Bill and Remus carrying Millicent Bulstrode into their cell. Bill stepped out to help his brother free other prisoners. Tonks let Severus out to open another prison cell. Neville and Draco stayed put with the victims. Luna Love good was barely alive. Justin Finch-Fletchley screamed when he saw Draco, but Neville covered his mouth. Draco didn't recognize many of the others. He took Luna from Severus's arms. She was naked, and her face was ghostly white. Draco checked for a pulse, then he took off his outer robe and wrapped it around the girl and held her tight.

"Did you free them all?" Neville asked.

"I didn't see anymore." Severus said.

"There's a second floor," Justin spoke.

Draco spoke first, "What we're going to do is block of this cell. There are six of us, if there's an ambush, we will probably be okay."

"That's a good plan, but what happens if they discover this cell?" Neville asked. Draco pulled out two wands out of the robes that he wrapped around Luna. He handed one to Justin and the other to Millicent who seemed to be the most functional in that moment.

"If the front gate is over run, then they don't stand a chance." Tonks pointed out, "Two of us should stay behind."

"Shhh, someone's coming!" Neville shushed. Everyone pushed to the sides to avoid being scene. Draco peaked out. It was Nott. He took one look at the empty cells and called ran out of the door. Draco and Neville looked at each other again.

"Their fight isn't going to end soon. Remus and I will get the prisoners out. Go take the front Gate from the behind at least then you will have a chance to regroup." Bill pointed his wand at the back wall. He blasted the hole stone all open and Severus flew out. He managed to grab the edge of the window and Remus pulled him back up. Remus took off his shoe and handed it to Bill.

"Do you know where you want to go Bill?" Remus asked.

Bill nodded, "Sorry about that Severus, here we go. _Portus"_

As soon as it was clear, Neville, Draco, Severus, Tonks and Charlie ran to the front gate where the fighting was. They could hear what was happening because of the ears that George had created, and when they reached the gate, there was no turning back.


	30. Chapter 30 Recovery and Tight Quarters

Chapter 30

If a war was fought with a sword, there would be blood every where amongst the bodies. It is hard to say whether it is fortunate or not that a wizard's war is less bloody. There wasn't time to ponder this. Draco had his wand out and indiscriminately began firing spells at those with Death Eater Cloaks. Their arrival had opened the gates to the prison. Both sides seemed to have suffered loses. Having been focused on their previous task, he didn't really know what the numbers were. The young Weasley daughter was holding the body of one of her brothers. He couldn't see which one. Another Weasley, the one who used to boast frequently, was being tortured with the Cruciatus curse. Neville reached him first. Then the sky went dark, and the air became cold. A dark skull appeared in the sky. They had summoned the Dark Lord. Harry was not among them there was no way for them to win what was left of their battle.

Mad-Eye ordered the retreat. It was not a complete loss, they rescued many of the prisoners there. George was shaking when he saw his brother return in the arms of his sister. Apparently, he had blocked a spell aimed for her. After Ron's death, this was even more unbearable. Their entire air team had sustained terrible injuries, and Severus slaved over their recoveries. Oliver Wood did not survive. The scarring on Marcus Flint's face could not be healed. There were too many for Grimmauld Place to hold, so some of the injured were sent to the Sea Cottage that Bill had bought with his wife.

There was no way around it, they were shaken from their fight. It was hard to say that they weren't ready, but there's no real way to be ready for your friends to die. Each person who died on their side was loved by all. Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twin that he couldn't remember the name of, Oliver Wood, they were all family to each other, and they had included Draco. Both sides suffered incredible losses, but he doubted that the Dark Lord would have grieved over any of them. Draco's Aunt hugged him when they returned. He almost forgot again that he still had family. There were so many injuries. Many of them Severus could treat instantly, but others had to take time to recover. When Draco's Aunt let go of him, he panicked when he saw the blood on her dress, but it wasn't long before he realized that the blood wasn't hers. She caught him before he fainted. Neville brought bandages and towels to cover the cut across Draco's chest. It wasn't deep, but it was bleeding quite a bit.

"Mrs. Tonks, please go fetch Severus." Neville requested.

"I can treat that injury." Andromeda pointed her wand at her nephew and the cut was instantly healed, but Draco was weak.

"Not for the injury, he's going to need some blood replenishing potion." Neville picked Draco up and carried him upstairs, "I'm going to put him in my room. We are going to have to double up if this many people are going to stay here."

"Be careful with him." His Aunt said, "That boy has been through a lot, but he deserves to be loved like everyone else."

"I know" Neville said with a smile walking up the stairs. Draco was light, and it seemed surreal that he was carrying Draco up the stairs when the other day Draco had done the same. What bothered him was that Draco was injured and he didn't let anyone know until he collapsed. Neville wondered if his history made him feel out of place. In truth, Draco had no idea that he was injured until he saw the blood on his Aunt's dress. He had panicked because he thought it was hers, but reality and the pain finally set in. His body became weak from the blood loss. He was vaguely conscious when someone was carrying his body up the stairs and laying him in bed. The scent smelled like the person who had just been carrying him. Someone was pouring a potion down his throat, and then a second one.

It's always difficult to wake up after a night of Dreamless Sleep potion. His eyes felt heavy, but he was no longer tired. Something was heavy on his arm. His eyes fluttered open and he looked over. Neville was sitting in a chair, passed out with his head leaning against Draco's hand. If his hand wasn't losing its feeling in that moment, he would have just let Neville sleep, but he needed the blood to rush back this limbs. His stirring made Neville jump and pull out his wand, "Hey, hey, hey, it's just me."

"Oh," Neville said yawning, "What time is it?"

"I haven't the faintest idea. What happened?" Draco asked.

"You don't remember? You had a mighty gash across your chest." Neville pointed to his now healed body. Draco looked down to double check to see if he was dressed. He was still wearing the clothing from the previous night, thankfully.

"I was injured?"

"I'm surprised you didn't notice. It looked like hell." Neville said, "Scooch over, I'm going back to sleep."

Neville basically pushed Draco aside and laid down to close his eyes. Draco's eyes looked out the window, it was still night, "But I'm not tired."

"You don't have to, but I'm going to sleep," Neville said as he was beginning to pass out. He was right. Draco scooched over and Neville laid down. He was out cold in seconds. The bed was warm, and the air was cold. He snuggled back into the bed and let what seemed like a few more minutes of rest take him. In the days following, life was rough. All of the severely injured were sent to the Sea Cottage, and those who were still fit to fight resided in Grimmauld Place. This proved to be a problem. The old Black House was large, but for the number of people who resided here, it was small. George went home and had not returned since the death of his twin. Gregory was now sharing with Marcus. Charlie was sleeping in the living room. Draco transfigured a couch into a fairly decent bed in Neville's room. It was tight. Draco had no idea when or where, Severus slept. He seemed to be awake indefinitely. There were nights when Draco would awake and watch Severus busy through all hours of the night. Then he would be awake in the morning busy. It must have been a week since the prison break that he saw Severus passed out on the couch. Draco waved his wand to have his former teacher covered with a blanket.

Sharing a room with Draco was fine for Neville, except that Neville had a harder time denying that he had feelings for Draco. Each night he would wait for Draco to fall asleep before he could even begin to relax. He supposed the first reason was that he hated wearing clothes to bed and preferred to sleep in the nude. He had to wait until Draco was asleep before he took off his clothes. He tried to wake up before the blond haired Slytherin so he could get dressed without being noticed. Draco wasn't stupid, he figured that this was a problem, so he willed himself to sleep early and stay in late. It wasn't his normal sleep pattern, but he wanted Neville to feel comfortable.

The other small problem in Grimmauld Place was the lack of bathrooms. With this many people, the situation was uncomfortable. There was one morning when Draco woke up before Neville and snuck out of the room to shower in peace. This early in the morning, and he was sure that aside from Severus, no one would be awake. Draco had already gotten the water to the correct temperature and was enjoying the relaxing feel of the water on his skin when he felt a breeze in the room. He quickly grabbed his wand to make the shower curtain opaque. His roommate was using the loo in all his naked glory, he appeared to be half asleep. Draco called out to wake him up "Hey,"

Neville shook out of it and looked up to see Draco's head peeking out from behind the curtain. It was rare, but Neville blushed when he realized that Draco was naked on the other side of the curtain, "Sorry, could you go back in there?"

Draco sank back into the shower, "Do you normally just walk into the bathroom when the shower is on?"

Neville washed his hands and wrapped a towel around his waist, "No, I wasn't paying attention. I'm going back to bed."

After the door closed Draco went back to finishing his shower in peace, but when he got out, he realized that Neville took the only towel in the bathroom. Draco sighed and concentrated his thoughts to where Neville might be. Instead of speaking to Neville, he got a glimpse of what was in Neville's thoughts. Draco saw an image of him laying naked in Neville's bed spread eagle while the Gryffindor was fucking his brains out. Draco blushed and felt his own body react at the arousing scene, but he remembered his dilemma, "Oi"

"Oh God, you didn't just see that." Neville said horrified. He was glad that Draco was in another room and couldn't' see his face.

"We can discuss that in a minute, but you took the towel from the bathroom." Draco explained.

"Oh, I'll be right there. Give me a minute." Neville knocked on the door and Draco opened it a crack to let the towel pass through. He did not want Draco to see his face, but Draco walked back to the room and Neville had his face covered. Draco smiled a little.

"So that's what you think of when you think of me." Draco said with amusement in his tone of voice.

"I was asleep." Neville admitted.

"Well, I'm flattered. I can leave, would you like to finish?" Draco smiled again. Neville shook his head. He felt a little bit of empathy towards the taller man though. Draco put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Hey, I get those dreams too. You sleep naked. How could I not?"

Neville sat up feeling a bit better, but he did not expect to have Draco sitting on his bed next to him. What was even more surprising was Draco snaking his arms around Neville's waist and pulling him close. Neville responded to the embrace, but was hesitant, "I thought…"

"I have feelings for you too, Neville. I just…." Draco didn't want to say it, but Neville seemed to understand.

"These things take time. There's no rush." Neville said pulling back but seeing the look on Draco's face made him act. He planted his lips straight onto the blond man's lips. Draco could only blush when the kiss was finished.


	31. Chapter 31 The Meaning of Family

Chapter 31

It is true that if by looking at a numbers standpoint, that battle would have been considered a win. The Dark Lord suffered heavy losses, and the Order of the Phoenix rescued a handful of prisoners who would have suffered much longer. Still the lives that were lost were family. For Molly and Arthur Weasley, Fred was the second son that they lost during a battle at the prison. Draco was often finding himself empathizing with Harry who had the weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders, but the people who were causing the ones he cared about so much pain were people that he grew up loving. His parents weren't great people. They had done their share of torture and serving the Dark Lord. He wondered how they would feel if they saw that their son switched sides. He looked at his Aunt who looked so much like his mother and wondered how she felt when she left the Black family. The sins of his family were his to bear and no one else's. The person who should have been taking all of the risks should be him, but each time he was being protected by someone else. Harry understood more than anything the gravity of the situation.

"You aren't thinking of leaving, are you?" Neville asked him one evening as they laid down to sleep, "That would be a mistake. We need you here."

"I was thinking a lot of things." Draco said with his back turned. Neville understood him and more than when he was just reading his thoughts. His guilt over what his family had done, and the nauseating feeling knowing that he was almost one of them.

"You do realize that no one thinks that you are one of them." Neville said, sitting up, "I know that we've struggled to get to this point, Draco. I may be partially to blame, and perhaps you needed to feel some guilt."

Draco raised an eyebrow at his new friend/almost lover, "I do feel guilt. My mother, father, and aunt are…."

"You have another aunt who is downstairs. She risks her life daily for us, and she has been fighting her family for much longer than you have." Neville said, "More than that, you have risked your life for your friends more times than we can count. You are the bridge that divides what used to be Slytherins and Gryffindors. You even fell in love with a Gryffindor."

"I don't think it's just one Gryffindor, Neville." Draco said with a slight dusting of pink on his nose. Neville blushed too when he heard Draco, "Still, I watch the Weasley family, and I wish that I had that. They have a warmth that my family would never have."

"Your parents loved you. They died to protect you like Harry's parents did." Neville climbed out of his bed. Draco yelped and turned his head away, "I'm wearing shorts. Scooch over."

Draco slid over, "You know, when I was younger, Bellatrix and Rodolphus would come visit for holidays. We almost seemed like a normal family. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, "Neville's lip twitched, "I can never forgive her for what she did to my parents, but they were someone you loved and they betrayed you."

"Bellatrix almost had me raped. If Ron hadn't blown her up, my Uncle would have taken away my innocence" Draco told Neville of what happened the night they rescued Blaise. Neville's eyes widened. He looked horrified, "All I could think about was, this wasn't them, right? I mean they used to babysit me and bring me sweets. I guess, you can't really trust Slytherins."

Neville wrapped his arms around Draco, "I trust you."

"I don't know how you can. Don't you see my family when you see me?" Draco asked.

"No, love. I only see you, the man who would do anything to protect the ones he cares about. "Neville covered Draco's lips with his own and pulled the blond man close. Draco leaned into the kiss. It was different than kissing Ron. The warmth was different, and Neville was taller and thinner. Ron's arms were stronger. Neville's hands slinked around to Draco's waist. He began to touch Draco's thigh and slid around his pelvis as if asking permission. The side of Neville's hand barely touched Draco's semi-hard shaft. Draco jumped a mile.

"I'm…" Draco pulled away slightly.

"I know, you aren't ready. I didn't mean to scare you." Neville stood up, but Draco grabbed his hand.

"Stay, I don't mind." Draco spoke, "I was startled. I.."

"Draco, love, these things take time. We don't need to be in any rush." Neville climbed back into Draco's bed, "Sleep, it's late."

The sea cottage was a bloody nightmare. All of the injured who could not be healed instantly were sent there. Neville warned everyone that St. Mungo's was not safe. Bill Weasley's home was small, but it was safe enough that they couldn't be detected. The next morning Neville and Draco arrived with potions that Severus had brewed. Colin Creevey's face turned white and his hands began to shake when he saw Draco. Neville grabbed him, and Colin buried his face into Neville's arms, "What is he doing here?"

"He's a friend. He won't hurt you. In fact, Draco was the one who saved your life." Neville said. The younger man slowly stopped shaking.

"He's a Slytherin. Aren't they all evil?" Colin eyes turned murderous as if his eyes weren't his and he lunged at Draco, but Neville had him pinned down.

"Colin, what's gotten into you?" Neville said, holding him tight as the younger man struggled. Then Colin's eyes returned to normal and passed out. Draco wasn't sure if he should approach or not, "I wonder what happened there. I'll go carry him back to his room."

"Is it true that you switched sides?" Justin asked cautiously.

"Yes, he is." Bill Weasley answered confidently and nodded at Draco, "He risked his life for yours."

"I heard Ron died because of him, you can forgive him like that?" Justin asked Bill with a sneer, "Draco was horrible to Ron in school."

"I admit that I've done things that I'm not proud of" Draco said, "I can only apologize for the me before, but trust me when I say that I'm not that person anymore."

"Ron made a choice to protect someone he cared about, and there won't be a day that goes by that we won't miss him. If he was here though, he would tell you that you can trust Draco." Bill said with honesty. He put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Actually, I couldn't trust Draco either." Neville sighed with honesty, "But I honestly would not be alive today if Draco had not saved my life. He's changed. I can't tell you to trust him, Justin. You will have to figure that out for yourself."

"Thank you" Draco whispered to Bill. Then he turned to Justin again, "I'm really sorry for being a prat at school. If you would like to hex me a few times, you are more than welcome to. No doubt, I deserve it. I promise after the war, you can have as many goes at me as you want. Right now, let's focus on supporting Harry."

Justin's eyes widened, "Alright, what do you know?"

"We know that Harry is sending us clues to where the next attack will be, and he sent a clue about St. Mungo's. However, I'm beginning to suspect that Harry's being monitored which is why his clues are not as direct as they had been."

"Do any of you know an object that might belong to Helena Hufflepuff?" Draco asked.

"She has a cup," Justin answered, "Its one of her relics. Actually, we did hear the guards talking about an object that Rodolphus was supposed to be hiding for the You-Know-Who."

Neville and Draco shared a look, "If Bellatrix wanted to hide something, do you know where they would put it?"

"I don't know," Draco said, and then he thought of something, "I do know where their house is though. Its not easy to find even for a death eater. I don't know if I can get in."

"Well they are dead, so wouldn't you technically be their next of kin? Wouldn't it be yours?" Neville asked.

"Or it might go to Andromeda or Tonks, she's older than I am, if they didn't designate who would inherit their property. As far as I know, they didn't have any children."

"Then we need to talk to your Aunt and cousin." Neville said. Then Neville smiled a little cheekily, "You said, you wanted to feel what its like to be family."

"Bill, do you need anything else before we leave?" Draco asked.

"Yes, more hands. Fleur and I are only two people here. More help would be appreciated. Not my mother, if you can manage it" Bill smiled sheepishly.

"I'll see what I can do." Draco said as they apparated back to Grimmauld place. Mrs. Weasley was not sent to the Sea Cottage, but Draco asked Ginny if she would go. The young Weasley girl reluctantly agreed to go help her brother. Neville relayed to Severus what was happening.

"You are not going to the Lestrange house alone. Absolutely not, " Severus said firmly.

"I wasn't gonna go alone, Severus." Draco wanted to snicker, but his reasoning was appreciated.

"Nope, Draco wanted to have a family outing?" Neville snickered. Draco pinched the taller man's arm, "Ouch, what was that for?"

"Don't tease me, I'm not good with family." Draco said nervously, " I want you to go with me to talk to her."

"What are you nervous about? She already told you that she wanted to become your family. Now's your chance." Neville said, "I'll go with you if you really want me to though."

"Severus, do you now where my Aunt and Tonks are staying?" Draco asked. A blue haired woman tapped his shoulder from behind. Draco jumped and whipped out his wand, "Merlin's Beard, do not scare me like that."

"You were looking for me?" Tonks asked pretending to ignore his comment.

"We might have found a clue to help Harry, but we need to search Bellatrix Lestrange's home. We aren't sure if she had a will or not. The home would most likely be in you mother's name now." Draco said, "We might need her help to get in."

"Well let's go find her." Tonks grabbed Draco by the arm and dragged him outside of Grimmauld Place so they could apparate.


End file.
